Unknown Guardians
by quintupledots915
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke go to Hogwarts to protect Harry Potter. It sounds overused, right? Things happen that aren't what you would expect. Focused on fifth book, elements of sixth in it.
1. Chapter 1

This chapter was updated 6-2-10.

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Chapter 1

Tsunade, wearing her normal green overcoat and tan shirt, was sitting doing paperwork. Well, she appeared to be doing paperwork. Every ten seconds or so, her arm would jerk up, bringing a bottle of sake to her mouth. Shizune was off on twenty-five pages worth of errands.

Suddenly, a screech sounded from behind Tsunade. She jumped, throwing her sake across the room to shatter against the wall. A letter was sitting just inside the window. Tsunade grimly picked it up, praying it wasn't more paperwork. There was a seal of some sort keeping the letter sealed. It looked like a symbol of something.

"Great! Just what I need!" Tsunade laughed at her boring sarcasm. She ripped the letter open and saw it was from Hogwarts. 'I think Sarutobi mentioned something about these guys before. Something about using...magic maybe?' She began reading the long, thin handwriting.

_Dear new Hokage_

_I have a need of a few ninja to help gaurd a certain student that attends this school. That is Harry Potter. A wizard named Voldemort, formally Tom Riddle, would love to kill Harry, much like Orochimaru in your world. I would love to borrow three of your ninja to help with this process. Any shinobi from ages 15 to 17 will do. It would be great practice for them. I would like them here a week before the start of the school year, so they can become acustomed to our way of life. We will let them stay inside Hogwarts school. Please have a return letter by your means of sending it. On it, include who you are sending. Also, if you would like more information on on the wizarding world, look in the Hokage's books. There is a secret compartment behind the book "S-rank Shinobi Tactics". _

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

Tsunade started thinking of who she would send immediantly. She found her list of availible ninja and sighed in defeat. She would have to send _them_. She would be giving them a nice long talk before they left. A tick mark began to show on Tsunade.

"Shizune!" Shizune practically tore the door down. She had been in Tsunade's radar of annoyance for about a week because she always took so long to get there. "Tsunade-sama? You called?" "Obviously! Otherwise you wouldn't be in here right now!"

Shizune took a few steps back. She really didn't want to make Tsunade mad today. Tsunade collected herself and started talking.

"I need you to get team 7 for me."

Naruto was waiting on top of the perfect tree to pull his latest prank. He was going to wait for Sasuke to walk just under the tree and then he would jump out and land on his back. Of course, it being Naruto, he didn't plan what would happen if Kakashi and Sakura were walking with Sasuke. Naruto jumped anyway. He was right on target...and he landed flat on his face. Sakura turned around with a look of slight fury. Naruto stood quickly and smiled slightly.

"My bad! I just...felt like going tree diving!" He used his biggest smile to worm his way out of trouble. Sakura still punched him, sending him flying. They had finally managed to bring Sasuke home. After Sasuke being contained for a year, he was allowed to commit himself to being a loyal ninja. So far, he had followed all orders. Ever since he came back, they have slipped back to their old habits of goofing around with each other. Kakashi thought it was a bit sad. Naruto had become so mature before Sasuke came back. Now, he was an idiot again.

"Sakura-chan! Why'd you do that?" Naruto tried his best to make a puppy dog face. Sakura didn't fall for it. "Naruto, you baka! I won't give in to childish things like that!" She punched him again. This whole time, Sasuke continued walking. He didn't want to have anything to do with this or any of their petty, little fights.

"Teme! Aren't you going to help me?" Naruto always tried to involve Sasuke. So far, he has been unsuccessful. Once again, he was unsuccessful. Sasuke paused. He turned his head ever so slightly, and said "No." He then turned his head forward and started walking.

"Sakura, Naruto, you go on ahead with Sasuke. I'll meet you at the gate." Kakashi vanished before either of them could respond.

They hurried to catch up with Sasuke and they walked as if it was old times all over again. They finally had their friend back and they weren't going to let him leave again.

Kakashi appeared in Tsunade's office. Tsunade looked up with weary eyes. She still didn't want to send them due to the fact Sasuke might not be able to go. That would not only piss Sasuke off, but it would piss Sakura and Naruto too. It was the last thing she wanted.

"Kakashi. Good. I have a mission for your team. You won't be going, however. They need ninja that are around sixteen years old." Kakashi grinned. "Are you saying I couldn't pass as a sixteen year old? I'm astonished!"

Tsunade sighed. "This is serious, Kakashi. There can't be any fooling around. Though if you really wanted to, I'm sure you could pass as a perfect sixteen year old." Tsunade slightly smiled at Kakashi. He could really be funny. Sometimes.

Shizune walked into the room with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke in quickly glanced at Kakashi. "Tsunade, I brought team Kakashi."

"Kakashi-sensei! Why did you leave when all you did was come here? We could've gone with you, seeing as we ended up in the same place!" Naruto suddenly felt the glare of an old lady being directed at him. He turned around and stood at attention.

"Good. Well, you three have a mission that will take about a year. You will be traveling to Hogwarts to protect a boy named Harry Potter. There is a man that wants him dead. The headmaster of the school thinks the man, Voldemort might try to get him this year. You three will be posing as transfer students from Japan. Well, I really shouldn't say this is for sure. There is a possibility Sasuke will not be allowed to go. It is up to the council as a whole." Tsunade finished her little speech with another sigh. Naruto was the first to talk.

"Hold on a second. Sasuke might not be able to go? We're team seven! He's got to go!" Another glare at him from the same ancient woman stopped him from further argument. He decided to ask a question on the place they'll be going to.

"Do they use jutsus like us?" Tsunade shook her head, glad he stopped freaking out before it got out of hand. "They use 'magic'". It is, however, incredibly similar to chakra. We use hand signs to do our jutsus, while they use wands. They are just pieces of wood with a specific core. Some may have unicorn hair, while others may have a pheonix feather. These people are called wizards instead of ninja."

"Wow. To think there was someone so much like us out there." Sakura was in complete awe this whole time. Sasuke, on the other hand, was steaming that he might have to be left behind on a very important mission. He needed them to trust him. Then, he realized who was determining if he was ready or not. The council was eager to let him back into the village, so why would they say no to this?

"If all three of you go, there is something I must have you do. But, I will save that for the day you leave." She smirked, knowing Naruto wouldn't be able to handle the suspence.

"Can't you tell us now? Please, Baa-chan?" Naruto was literaly jumping for answers. Tsunade first shook her head, then glared at him because of the nickname he gave her.

"Team Kakashi, come back in three days for the rest of your mission objectives.."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tsunade and Shizune were currently heading towards a council meeting to see if Sasuke is ready to do a long mission.

"Do you think they will let him go?" Shizune asked. Tsunade kept looking forward. "Yes, I do." Tsunade said no more. Shizune sighed, knowing she was probably right. The council wanted to make sure their precious Uchiha was given everything he wanted.

They made it to the door and Tsunade took no time in swinging the door open. She walked around the long table to her seat. She draped herself in the chair. "Are we ready to start?"

Everyone re-positioned themselves. Konoha's two councilors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, were the first to talk.

"We are here to see if Sasuke Uchiha will be allowed to go on the mission to Hogwarts. All in favor, raise your hands at this time." More than half of the people rose their sat up instantly. "We need to talk about this before we vote! We can't just jump right in and let him go!" Her talk was useless. Koharu turned her head towards Tsunade.

"Do you really think nobody has thought this through? Do you think we haven't already had a meeting on this?" That ticked Tsunade right off. "You're telling me you had a meeting without my knowledge? And it was about something that could change a shinobi's life?"

Everyone in the room was quiet. A few paid no attention, knowing arguing was useless. They knew he would be allowed to go in the end. Tsunade, on the other hand, was seething. She didn't think doing this was fair to anyone. Suddenly, Danzo spoke up. His voice angered Tsunade to the verge of flipping the table over that instant.

"Sasuke Uchiha has been showing us he will do all missions without fail. He hasn't done anything to re-betray the village, so he should be allowed to go due to his excellent behavior." Danzo looked proud of himself. He had buttered everyone up. Now, everyone would have to say yes. Well, everyone except Tsunade since she had made it known she did not want him going on a big mission like this.

"It has been made clear most people want Sasuke to go. We will allow him to go for the same reasons Danzo just said." Everyone but Tsunade nodded in agreement. She had been defeated yet again. She had seen it coming this time, but she still had to try. She was the first on their feet and the first out the door. All the way back to her office, Shizune had to run to keep up.

"Why did you try if you knew he was going to get to go anyway?" Tsunade merly grunted as an answer. It was obvious she was in a bad mood. They got back into the Hokage's office and there was silence for a moment. Suddenly, Tsunade threw her chair. Shizune only just ducked in time. "WHY DID YOU JUST THROW THAT CHAIR? YOU ALMOST HIT ME!" Tsunade turned to Shizune, killing intent flowing off her like a waterfall. A very fast and dangerous waterfall. Shizune sweat dropped.

"I mean, beautiful aim!" Tsunade walked over and grabbed the remains of the chair. She tossed them to Shizune. "Go get Team Kakashi and buy me a new chair!"

"H-Hai!"

* * *

Sasuke was sitting in his room with a book. He held it like you would normally hold books to read them, but he didn't take in any of the words. He was thinking about his time with Orochimaru. He had learned everything Orochimaru knew. Then, he killed him, knowing he couldn't learn any more from him. So, why did he suddenly feel guilty?

A small knock on the front door brought him out of his thoughts. He opened it to find Sakura. Her hair just got tugged by the wind, so the glare of sun on it changed. Her eyes, big and green, sparkled in the light. Overall, she had this 'thing' about her. Sasuke mentally slapped himself. Why was he checking Sakura out? That wasn't right in any way, shape or form.

"I came here to tell you Tsunade-sama needs us in her office strait away." She smiled her favorite smile. At least, it was Sasuke's favorite smile. Unkown to Sakura, a mini war was going on in Sasuke's head. He only half heard what Sakura said. He only heard her sweet voice.

No! This can't be happening to me! I can't be falling in love with Sakura! We've been on the same team for a really long time, so how can I only just start loving her? It can't be happening!

But what if it is? That would be the best thing to ever happen to me. I would finally have someone to talk to. I could tell her about my troubles and my victories. I wouldn't be alone anymore.

Sasuke's little battle took longer than it should have. In fact, it was still going on after Sakura left. It didn't matter what he did. The battle continued. All the way to the Hokage's office, it was in full swing. He didn't get out of it until Naruto jumped in front of him.

"Hey, Sasuke! We are finally going on this mission! I can't wait! Especially since it's a school and there are plenty of cute girls in any school!" At the exact moment he said that, Sakura just happened to walk up behind them. Naruto saw her and immediantly added,"I'm definitely not saying they're cuter than you, Sakura!" He grinned his goofy grin. Sakura blushed ever so slightly. In Sasuke's absence, Naruto and Sakura had grown incredibly close. Sakura was still unsure of her feelings, however. At this, Sasuke mentally kicked himself. Why did he even start to think things might happen between them?

"So, Sasuke, are you excited about the mission?" Sakura asked. Sasuke's heart started to speed up, but he kept his face normal. "Hn."

They walked up the stairs, Sakura and Naruto talking the whole way. Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of Naruto. It was really starting to scare him.

"You're finally here. Well, all three of you are going, since it's been okayed that Sasuke can go." Tsunade tried her best to not show how mad she truly was. "Yes! See? I told you they'd let you go!" Naruto was overreacting, like normal.

"Naruto, shut up!" Tsunade almost lost her perfect mask. Sakura was the only one that seemed to notice. "Anyway, you three will be going to Hogwarts by means of this...shoe. Then, after spending a week there, you will be going to a train station and getting on platform 9 3/4. Ask them where it is, because I couldn't tell you."

Naruto was literally bouncing for joy. He couldn't wait to take the shoe and get going! He would be someplace new for a whole year! Sakura had to punch him to get his attention. "Ow, Sakura-Chan! That hurt!"

"Ok. All three of you, hold onto the shoe. When I say three, you will be on your way." They all held onto some part of the shoe. Tsunade began counting.

" One... two...three!" They all disappeared. Shizune stood in front of Tsunade's desk. "Do you think they'll be able to do it?"

"I hope so."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were spinning faster than they ever had been in their lives. Everything around them was a blur. Naruto thought it was awesome. "THIS IS AMAZING!"

Sakura reminded herself to punch Naruto for screaming in her ear. They saw a white light growing beneath them that was pulling them in. Suddenly, they slammed against solid ground.

"Naruto! You didn't have to scream in my ear!" Sakura balled her fist up and was about to make contact with his head when she saw an old man. The man had the longest beard she had ever seen in her life! It went past his waist! His hair was also pure white.

"I see you all made it here safely. I am Albus Dumbledore." The ancient man walked foreword and taped each of their heads with a...stick. "Now you three will be able to understand and speak English. If you need to speak Japanese, just think that you need to and you will."

The three shinobi felt dazed. They were able to understand everything, though. "Dumbledore-san, thank you for allowing us to guard this school." Sakura always had a way about being nice. Until she got mad.

"Please, no formalities! You only need to say Professor Dumbledore!" There was a nice twinkle in his eyes. He seemed to be quite lively for an older man. That's when Sakura said it.

"Do you mind me asking what happened to your right hand?" Dumbledore didn't seem mad about the question. "I merely had a little accident. It's nothing to worry about, though."

Now, Sakura was extremely curious. If she didn't find out soon, she was likely to go insane.

"Minerva, would you be so kind and show these three around the school? They only have a week to get to know it like the back of their hands!" He chuckled slightly. Naruto thought he just found a new best friend. For once, this one was funny and lively, just like him. They followed the women out the door. They found out her name was Minerva McGonagall and she taught Transfiguration.

They traveled around the school, learning all the shortcuts and secret passages. Around dinnertime, they all headed for the Great Hall.

"For the next week, you will be eating in here for all meals. This is only happening because you three are here. Otherwise, you might have had to fend for yourselves." Professor McGonagall, they found, could be the most strict person on earth. Or she could be as sweet as sugar. Naruto didn't like her nearly as much as Dumbledore.

They were staying in the Griffindor wing until they were sorted with the first years. During the whole week, they were learning all about spells from the first year up to the sixth year. Dumbledore had a wandmaker come with a whole ton of wands. It took the three about four hours to get their wands.

Sakura got hers first. It was ten and a quarter inches with a core of unicorn hair and was made of maple. Naruto's was nine inches, made of beechwood, with a phoenix feather. Sasuke's was eleven and a half inches, made of ebony, and a dragon heartstring. After the wandmaker left, they instantly started testing their newly found wands. Sakura got the spells down almost instantly. Sasuke took a little longer and Naruto took forever.

By the morning of September first, they had completely completed their studies up to sixth year. All the teachers were pleased and awed that they had learned all of it in a week. (that would mean they wouldn't have to do extra lessons with them!)

"You three have done amazing. I am very happy that you accomplished all of this in a week." They were in Dumbledore's study, waiting to get to London. Then, his tone darkened slightly. "Once the students come here today, there won't be nearly as much time to have fun. You musn't let the students know anything about you. You will merely be known as Japanese transfer students. You can, however, keep your names. There won't be any need to have codenames." His tone lightened by the end of the little speech.

"Now, you'll be going to London by means of Floo Powder. When you get to the train station, you have to walk directly between the pillar with the numbers nine and ten. You have to be on the train before eleven o'clock, because it leaves at exactly eleven. We will be sending your things directly to the train, so you won't have to worry about it." Dumbledore stood up,walked to the fireplace, and picked up a little basket with powder in it.

"This is the Floo Powder. You have to walk into the fireplace, grab a handful of this powder, and clearly say 'Diagon Alley'. Sasuke, why don't you start?" Sasuke walked into the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and threw it on the ground while saying, "Diagon Alley!" Bright, green flames burst around him and he disappeared. Sakura and Naruto both had wide eyes.

"Go ahead, Sakura." She numbly walked forward and repeated Sasuke's actions. She too disappeared. Naruto started walking, but tripped over the side of the carpet. His face landed in the fireplace. He came out with a face full of ashes and Dumbledore hiding a laugh. Naruto shook the ashes off, still red in the face, and repeated what the others did.

After they all left, Professor McGonagall walked out of the shadows. "We should have told them, Albus." He shook his head.

"They'll find out soon enough."

Naruto was flying past all sorts of openings. He choked on a bit of the ashes he didn't get off when he fell into them. There was only one opening that he could make out. It looked like it went into a huge green room. There was a whole ton of people in the room. Naruto tried to get a closer look, but it was gone before he could make out tiny details.

He found the way out and fell into a brightly lit room. He immediantly saw Sakura's bright pink hair and Sasuke's raven-like hair. Naruto jumped up, sending any ashes on him flying. A big wad of ashes fell on Sakura's shirt. They had all gotten new clothes for the year. Naruto asked for all of his shirts having at least a little orange on them.

Sakura slowly turned around, killing intent prctically jumping off of her. Naruto swallowed. "Sakura-chan! S-s-sorry about that! I-I can-!" Naruto was cut off as she jumped on him, punching every part of him she could. (does this remind you of something that happens in book seven?)

"Sakura, get off of him. You're causing a seen." Sasuke was talking about the mob of people that came around them. Then, someone shot out of the fireplace, slamming into Sakura and Naruto.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU ARE BLOCKING THE FIREPLACE!" This girl seemed to have a bit of a temper as well. Everyone quickly left the scene.

"Who was she?" "I couldn't tell you, but she seems to have a huge temper just like you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto recieved another blow to the head. It was suprising he hadn't gotten a concusion from all the times she seemed to hit him.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was deep in thought. He was thinking about how Sakura always seemed to tense up when she was alone with him. 'I guess it's a bit obvious. I mean, when I was leaving Konoha for Orochimaru, I did pratically tell her I hated her guts.' He sighed. Could he never do anything right? Going to Orochimaru wasn't right. Starting my own team didn't work out. Nothing I ever do helps me get anything done! I'm especially bad with girls. Though, that's probably because I had been ignoring them for most of my childhood.

Why does my life suck so much?

They made their way to the train station. They were following a large group that consisted of a lot of redheads. There was also a girl with extremely curly brown hair and a boy with black hair that didn't like to stay down. The three shinobi knew who these people were, so they started their guarding business early.

The two groups made it to Platform 9 3/4 without much trouble. Naruto, being the first to get through the barrier, stared in awe of the magnificient train in front of him. Sakura came through behind him. She got annoyed that he was right there, but then understood. This train was huge!

After Sasuke came through, they got on the train. They found the compartment that held their stuff and sat down. They were one of the first people on the train.

_"I've been meaning to ask you two something."_Sakura was speaking in Japanese. This obviously meant it was very important. Sasuke turned his head from the window. He decided he would start paying more attention to his pink haired friend.

_"Did you feel that chakra coming from Dumbledore's hand? The one that looks like it's burnt."_Sasuke nodded immediantely. Naruto thought for a second, then nodded as well. _"It felt...evil."_

_"Do you think you can help him, Sakura?" _Sasuke actually said more than one word to Sakura. She stared for a second before talking. "_I'm not sure. I need to see his hand up close."_

At that second, the door opened. A familiar black haired boy with a blonde girl and a round-faced boy walked in. Harry stared for a second.

"Do you mind if we share this compartment? There isn't anywhere else to go." Sakura nodded smiling. They sat down opposite of the three shinobi. It was the blonde girl that talked first.

"I've never seen you three before. Are you first years?" Naruto pipped right up. "Nope! We're sixth year transfers from Japan!"

Harry noted that the blonde was a loudmouth. "What are your names?"

Sakura spoke first. "I'm Sakura Haruno." "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" "Sasuke Uchiha."

Harry felt a chill come down his spine when Sasuke spoke. He sounded like he had spent some time in the dark arts. He had no idea how close he was from the truth.

"I'm Luna Lovegood, and this is Neville Longbottom." Sakura saw that though Luna's appearance would through everyone off, she seemed like a nice girl.

"I'm Harry Potter." He seemed a bit bored, seeing as he thought they would automatically know his name.

"So you're the guy everyone is always talking about!" Sakura pipped right up. Sasuke looked out the window, bored with everything going on. Naruto and Sakura bombarded everyone with questions. Sakura's were a lot harder to answer than Naruto's. Some of his were so obvious that Neville and Luna had to hide their laughter.

The trip seemed to fly by much faster than normal. A voice sounded through the train saying, "We will be ariving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train."

"Here we go."

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**Updated 6-24-10**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The corridors of the train were packed. Naruto had pushed and shoved his way out, leaving a path for the rest to follow. Once they had finally gotten off the train, Sakura took a gulp of the fresh air. Though it was dark and slightly cold out, it was a great change from the inside of the train.

"Wow! Is it nice out here, or what?" Naruto said, slightly startling Sakura. She merely nodded.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was moping around. When a little kid, probably second year, bumped into him, he yelled at them to stay away from him. Just what was happening to him? Was he really that jealous of Naruto?

The Hogwarts students, apart from the first years, made their way to the carriages. Harry took the lead this time. Hermione and Ron had just caught up to them, since they now had prefect duties. When Harry stopped all of the sudden, Sakura grew a bit tense.

"Do you guys see that? The thing pulling the carriage?" The three ninjas turned towards the carriage. There was a bony creature with wings pulling them. Naruto actually jumped in fright.

"That thing is plain weird!" Naruto yelled. Ron and Hermione had looked at the carriage and then looked at Harry and the three ninjas with worry.

"There isn't anything pulling the carriage. It's pulling itself like it's always done." Hermione said. Sakura had to figure out why Hermione and Ron couldn't see them. If she didn't, she'd go insane!

The five of them climbed into the carriage. The whole ride was nice in Sakura's opinion. Sasuke had gotten out of his depression long enough to look at her, blush, and quickly look away. Why would he do that?

'It's pretty obvious! He likes you but is too cool to tell you himself.' The annoying voice vibrated through her head. 'Yeah, maybe. But he had his chance before. Besides, I like Naruto.'

'Or you think you like Naruto' Sakura lost herself in deep thought.

They stopped just outside the castle's doors. The golden trio walked behind team 7. They still had a ton of questions.

"I wonder why Naruto is always so stupid?" Ron said hypothetically. "He reminds me of someone I'm walking next to." Hermione replied. Ron looked at who was next to her. 'Why couldn't someone have been to the right of her? And why did I have to be on her left?' His ears stedily grew beat red.

"That girl, Sakura, seems to be kinda like you, Hermione." Harry said. Hermione snorted. "If she was like me, she wouldn't be able to put up with an idiot and a depressed freak."

"About the 'depressed freak', he sort of scares me. He just has this thing about him I don't like." Ron shuddered, recalling Sasuke's dark hair and menacing look.

"Yeah..." The trio found that their feet had had them go to the great hall. They walked to the Gryiffindor table and found a spot near the middle of the tables.

Back with the ninja's, they had waltzed right up to the front table. They went to Professor Dumbledore, whose eyes glimmered in the candle light.

"Ah! I see you made it back in one piece. The students didn't cause you any harm, did they?" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "After the first years get sorted into their houses, you will be sorted. After you are sorted, go to the corresponding house table. Until then, you are more than welcome to sit at any one of the tables."

After the short speech, Naruto practically ran to the Gryiffindor table. He looked over his shoulder to see Sakura and Sasuke in the same place they were. After a moment, they came over. Sakura made a mental note to slap him when she got over there. However, they were stopped by three people.

"I've never seen _you_ three here before. Who are you?" A boy with bright white hair and a sneer that would cause babies to cry stood in front of them with to others that looked like they could shed a few pounds.

"I'm Sakura Haruno and this is Sasuke Uchiha. It's only nice if you told us you're names as well." Sakura said. She had a really bad feeling about this kid. He had this aura about him.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle. Are you the new Japanese transfer students father was talking about? If you are, don't hang out with Potter, he'll just cause you more trouble than you're worth." Sakura opened her mouth to have a comeback when a blonde blur flew in front of her and Malfoy.

"Do you have something to say to them? If you do, it better be quick because I can forsee you're long and painful death." Naruto spat out. He almost wanted to punch this freak for causing Sakura discomfort.

"You think you could fight me and win?" He laughed. "Are you as stupid as you look? Since when to people dress in bright orange?" That did it for Naruto. He got his hand into a tight fist and aimed. He threw his punch with all of his might. It smacked Malfoy straight in the nose. He flew about ten feet in the opposite direction.

"That should teach you!" Naruto smiled. Then, he heard a small cough from behind him. He turned around and saw Dumbledore looking at him with a small smile and twinkle in his eyes.

"Mr. Uzumaki, please, no fights in Hogwarts. They may deserve it, but I would rather have very few people in the Hospital Wing this year, wouldn't you?" Naruto nodded quickly and turned to face Sakura.

"Naruto, you baka! Don't get us into trouble when we've only been here for a week!" Sakura walked away, holding her anger in until later. They ended up siting at the Gryiffindor table while the sorting took place. They had seen Malfoy have his nose healed, seeing as Naruto had broken it. They were laughing, seeing Madem Pomfrey attempt to have him hold still long enough to heal it. He kept getting up when he saw Naruto practically rolling on the floor, because he was laughing so hard.

The sorting took no time at all. Naruto was almost bouncing up and down, because he couldn't wait for their sorting. Once the last first year was sorted into Hufflepuff, Dumbledore stood up. Everyone stopped talking and looked up towards him.

"I welcome all the old students back and all the new students here! This year, we have transfer students from Japan that will be joining our school. They are Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. If you would come here, please." As they walked up, they heard some of the things they whispered about.

"Look at the one with the dark hair! He is soo cute! I wonder if that's Naruto or Sasuke!"

"Look at the chick, guys! She needs to be in Ravenclaw!"

"Who has pink hair? Are they crazy?"

They finally made it to the front. Professor McGonagall motioned them in front of her. Then, she called them out one at a time.

"Haruno, Sakura!" Sakura had hoped she wouldn't have to be first. She walked over to the stool, just like the first years had, and felt the hat go onto her head. It slipped over her eyes and landed on the bridge of he nose. Then, a small voice, unlike her inner self, called out.

"Interesting, a ninja. You must be guarding the Potter boy. Well, you're mind is quite exquisite. A medical ninja, huh? Yes, well, for the good of your mission, GRYIFFINDOR!" The last word reverberated through the great hall. The Gryffindors clapped the hardest. Well, the Gryiffindor guys, at least. The rest of the guys all seemed slightly down that she wasn't in their houses.

"Uchiha, Sasuke!" A few girls whispered excitedly at the fact the hot boy had a hot name, too. He got to the stool and felt the hat go on. It didn't fall over his eyes, which he was happy about.

"Another ninja. You seem to have had quite a life. You betrayed your own village to get power? You seem like great Slytherin material." At that, Sasuke growled slightly. He would not allow himself to be in the same house as Malfoy. He also didn't like the fact of being away from Sakura. "Fine, fine. GRYIFFINDOR!" The sorting hat bellowed half-heartily.

The screams of girls pounded the walls. Most of the guys groaned. They had to get the emo kid, too. Great.

"Uzumaki, Naruto!" Naruto practically ran to the stool. He didn't wait for Professor McGonagall to put it on, so he shoved it on himself.

"Oh! Where am I?" The hat looked into his thoughts and found himself in a dark room. Upon closer examination, there was a enormous cage with a seal on it. He looked over and saw Naruto there, too.

"Opps, didn't mean for you to end up here. I was a bit too excited." Naruto guiltily looked at the hat and turned to the bars. A red glow started behind the cage. It steadily grew bigger untill it came out of hiding. The hat narrowed it's eyes. It never thought the Kyuubi would be in a child.

"What are you doing here?" Kyuubi yelled. "If you need my chakra, come back when you'll actually defeat the guy you're using it on! And what is that doing here?"

"I should probably get you out of here." Naruto closed his eyes and willed both him and the sorting hat out of his mind. When he opened them, he was greeted by the students of the great hall.

"So, the Kyuubi's sealed inside you? Interesting. I thought he was still out in the open. Well, anyway." The hat grew silent as he looked into his mind. "You've been in many battles and killed many, but you will to never give up is strong. Even if you weren't on a mission, you'd be in GRYIFFINDOR!"

The hall burst into more applause. Naruto jumped right up and went quickly to the Gryffindor table. He sat in between Sakura and Ron.

"It is time for the feast! Enjoy!" Food magically appeared on the plates in front of them. Naruto grabbed everything he could, because he was starving. He was upset they didn't have ramen, though.

Outside the school, the trees whispered to each other. One figure stood popped onto the top of one of the trees. The moon reflected off his face and the shadows fell in just the right spots.

"So, the jinchuuriki came here of all places. Good."

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There's chapter 4! Thank you! Updated 7-5-10


	5. Chapter 5

**I re-read my fic and realized I have some things from the sixth book incorporated in it. Seeing as I'm too lazy to go and fix my mistakes, I'm going to leave those things and have this fic a combination between the fifth and sixth book. Sorry if it disappoints anyone! Just to let you all know, I'm not going to cram both books together! That would be way to hard. Thanks! And thanks to all those who reviewed!**

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Chapter 5

Once the chattering hit the maximum in the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood up and raised his arms. The whole Hall looked towards him and gasped. The had seen his hand. He merely chuckled.

"Don't worry about this," He flapped his sleeve over the wound, hiding it from view. "I know you are all tired after devouring another magnificent feast, but there are a few announcements to take care of."

"To all first years, the forbidden forest is strictly prohibited. This is also a reminder to a few of the older students." He glanced at the Gryiffindor table, mainly at Harry, Ron and Hermione. Naruto snickered.

"Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that no spell casting is allowed in the halls between classes. If you would like a full list of prohibitions, please see Mr. Filch's door."

"There are quite a few changes in staff this year. I would like to re-introduce Professor Grubbly-Plank who will be taking the post of Care of magical creatures while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave." The Golden Trio exchanged looks of worry. Where was Hagrid?

"I would also like to introduce Professor Dolores Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Sakura overheard Harry whispering, "She was at my hearing! She works for Fudge!" Sakura had a bad feeling about that Umbridge person.

There was a polite round of applause for the new teachers. Dumbledore turned back to the crowd of students.

"Quidditch tryouts are going to be-" He was cut off by a quiet _"Hem, hem," _from the teachers table. Everyone turned to see the new teacher, Professor Umbridge, stand up. The three shinobi noticed she didn't look any taller than when she was sitting down. Sasuke had to repress a snicker that was coming up his throat. She could easily be passed off as a toad!

"Thank you, Headmaster for the beautiful welcoming. And I am just delighted to see all those bright, happy faces smiling up at me." When Naruto glanced around, he didn't see anyone smiling. He did see a few people gagging, though. "I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends."

Somewhere at the middle of the table, someone said, "That's likely," in the most sarcastic way possible. A few people laughed at how true the statement was. Umbridge turned to them with a sickening grin.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts that you-" Everyone in the Great Hall began to lose attention. Some people began to whisper while others began playing games. The only few that were actually giving any attention to the longest speech ever were Hermione, Sakura, and Sasuke.

After an eternity, Professor Umbride walked back to her seat. It was quiet and then Professor Dumbledore began to clap. Soon all the teachers were clapping. Then, as if the clapping was a jumstart to their minds, the whole Hall joined in.

"If I knew what they were talking about, it would help a bit." Sakura said sadly, "But I do understand it."

"I do as well. And if I know Naruto, he didn't pay attention." Sasuke looked over to Naruto and rolled his eyes. He was correct. Naruto was playing with his wand.

"Thank you, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating. As I was saying before, Quidditch tryouts will be held according-" The three shinobi began whispering.

"So, what was that speech thing talking about?" Sasuke muttered, "I knew it." and Sakura said, "You baka!"

Sakura ended up telling him. "This Umbridge woman is from the Ministry of Magic. I overheard Harry saying it. That means she is here to spy on Hogwarts. This Ministry of Magic is interfering with the natural way of Hogwarts." Sasuke nodded. Naruto looked like he didn't understand it any better.

"Um, we might want to get going, the Great Hall is almost empty." Sasuke pointed out. They jumped up and hurried out the doors. Umbridge eyed them slightly. _"I'll have to keep a close eye on those newbies. They seem like trouble."_

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The common room was absolutely packed when they got there. Everyone was laughing and having fun. Sasuke left pretty fast so he could get away from the crowd. The other two were bombarded by questions.

"What is your old school like?"

"Do all of the people from where you come from have such weird hair color?"

"What's with the bright clothing?"

Sakura was slightly annoyed, but she answered their questions. Some of their questions were getting too personal, but Hermione noticed and changed the topic.

"Why did your other friend go upstairs so early? His name is Sasuke, right?" Hermione piped up. Naruto made a huge grin when he answered.

"He doesn't like crowds. And I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to avoid all the girls that would be drooling at the sight of him." Hermione whispered something about wishing she had never asked.

Sakura turned around and caught a pair of blue eyes. The hair that was right above the eyes was bright red. The person turned around when they saw Sakura looking. She figured out it was a boy. In fact, wasn't it the red-headed boy they sat with on the train?

"You're Ron, right?" He turned back around and nodded. Was it just her imagination, or did he start to blush after she talked? This could get a bit interesting, now that she thought about it.

"So, how many siblings do you have? I saw three others with hair just as red as yours is. Are they your siblings?" Ron nodded again. Okay, thought Sakura, he didn't answer the first question, and his eyes haven't moved in a while.

She waved her hand in his face. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

Ron shook his head back into gear. As soon as he saw Sakura, his ears went red. "DidyouneedsomethingSakura?" He asked in a rapid tone.

"No, I was just trying to regain your attention." Since all shinobi had heightened senses, she was able to decipher what he said quite easily. Ron stood up and went up the stairs to his dormitory. Sakura smiled in understanding.

"Oh yeah, and there are these toad sages where we come from. They can talk and everything!" Sakura overheard Naruto telling some first years. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet before any more damage was done.

"Sorry, everyone. We need to get some sleep since we don't know our way around Hogwarts all that well, we're getting up early!" Sakura was glad when none of them protested.

Sakura dragged Naruto to the stairs leading to the boys dormitory. "Look, Naruto, you can't be talking about our homeland. Remember our plan? You have to follow that plan at any cost! Now, go to bed before any more things get spilled!"

With that, she stormed off to the girls dormitory. Naruto shrugged and went upstairs.

Another room had been made to accommodate the shinobi. They would go all the way to the top, release a certain seal, and go through the door that appeared. This way, they would be free to discuss anything that happened throughout the day in privacy. It also allowed Sakura to be with them even though she was a girl. Let's just say it was a room connecting the girls and boys dormitories. It took a lot of convincing to Dumbledore before he allowed it.

_Flashback_

_"Professor Dumbledore, I know it isn't customary, but would it be alright if we shared a room? It would be easier for us to talk in privacy." Sakura asked. It was one day before the students would be arriving. Dumbledore had made a small feast for him, the shinobi, and the teachers._

_"I don't particularly like the fact that a young lady would be sleeping in the same room as two young gentlemen." Dumledore said with a twinkle in his eye._

_"What, do you think we are going to sleep in the same bed or something?" Professor McGonagall choked on her pumpkin juice. For a moment or two, the only noise was the coughing of Professor McGonagall. Once she stopped coughing, she immediately began to yell at Naruto._

_"Mr. Uzumaki! I will not tolerate those kind of insinuations when I am nearby! That is completely inipropriete!" Naruto had sunk quite a few feet in his chair._

_Everyone was incredibly surprised when Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, I see where you are coming from, Sakura. And Naruto, yes, that is the primary reason there are separate dormitories. Very well, your request is granted."_

_Pure shock came from everyone. Everyone except Sasuke, that is. He knew it would work from the beginning._

_End Flashback_

"Hey guys. Sorry, Sakura-chan, you are right about what happened downstairs. It's just a bit hard to lie all the time." Sakura smiled. She was happy he finally understood how important this mission is.

"Apology accepted. Just make sure it doesn't happen again." Naruto smiled back to Sakura. Sasuke, seeing what might start happening, quickly changed the subject.

"Shouldn't we be planning what we are going to be doing in terms of protecting Harry and his friends?" Naruto and Sakura snapped out of their staring and went to begin planning.

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Meanwhile, Harry and Seamus were in a heated argument.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother like that, Potter!" Harry's eyes narrowed.

"I'll talk to anyone like that who calls me a liar!" Ron burst through the door, yawning. He looked up to see Harry and Seamus staring at each other with glares on their faces.

"Maybe you should switch to a different room, Seamus!"

"Yeah, maybe I will!" Seamus went to his bed, wrenched the curtains shut which caused them to rip off, repaired them angrily, and was quiet. Harry then went to his bed and closed his curtains, though not so violently, and was also quiet.

Ron looked over to Dean and Neville questioningly, but they shook their heads. Ron shrugged and decided now would be a great time to change for sleep.

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**Once again, thank you to all of my readers. Please R&R.**

This chapter was updated 8-16-10.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's another chapter. I'm glad people are liking this story so much. I didn't think it would get so many people reading this! :) I want to tell LittleCelina, I am taking your review into consideration. It might happen, or it might not. :P

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Chapter 6

Sun pierced through the windows of the Great Hall. It was already a busy morning. Owls with things the students forgot at home were descending. Almost everyone was sitting, eating to their hearts desire. Almost everyone.

"Why didn't they wake me up? They should know better than that!" A certain blonde yelled to no one in particular. Naruto was ripping through their room, looking for his robes. He then realized that he had them on. Backwards. He straitened them out and remembered he had to find his wand.

"Oh, come on! I put it on the table yesterday!" Naruto searched through the room some more. Then, he felt something in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his wand. "Oh yeah, I put it in my pocket when I woke up."

Feeling slightly stupid, he grabbed his bag and ran out the door. Naruto's stomach growled so loud it reverberated against the walls. That made him run even faster.

Naruto ran into the Great Hall with horrendous speed. He ran into a group of girls that were leaving with their schedules in hand. They fell into a heap on the ground. The whole place was eerily silent for a moment before it burst into laughter.

Naruto had fallen face down on a girls chest. The upper half of the girls chest. "Hey, this is kind of comfortable." Naruto said.

She screamed, grabbed him by the hair, pulled him to his feet, and punched him square in the face. This only made the Great Hall laugh even louder. Sakura, on the other hand, looked ready to kill at a moments notice.

"Um, sorry about that. I'm just really hungry." Naruto attempted to apologize to the girl he fell on. She had silky, long black hair tied into a ponytail. She wore the Ravenclaw robes. She looked violated.

"Stay away from me!" She jumped up and ran at full speed to the door. The other girls that were with her ran out, glaring at Naruto in the process.

"Bloody brilliant!" Ron walked up to Naruto and continued laughing. Naruto put on his best foxy grin.

"Do you always have to make such a scene, dobe?" Sasuke asked hypothetically. Naruto just grinned even more. Sakura came next.

"I got your schedule, Naruto. Next time, wake up when we wake you up." This made Naruto confused.

"But you never did wake me up." Sakura sweat-dropped. She sighed and mumbled something about the Library. She left the Great Hall, quickly followed by Hermione.

"You guys woke me up?" Naruto asked the only remaining shinobi. Sasuke rolled his eyes and answered boringly.

"We woke you up and you mumbled you were up. You stood up and grabbed your clothes and started putting them on...backwards. Then we left. You probably fell asleep again." Then, Sasuke took off as well.

"Man, I wish I had a camera! Cho Chang really punched you, didn't she?" Ron closed his eyes, obviously engraving the moment in his mind forever. Harry was still sitting at the table. Upon closer inspection, his face was bright red.

"What's wrong, Harry? You look like Hinata when she looks at me." Harry looked up to see Naruto. He hastily looked away.

There were a few seconds of silence. Harry mumbled something inaudible, grabbed his bag, stood up, and left the Great Hall. Naruto looked over to Ron. He was smirking.

"Harry likes Cho Chang. He probably reckons his chances just grew even more dim since she saw you hanging out with him and you ran into her. God, I can't understand girls at all. They're emotions are all over the place at any given time." Naruto nodded. He had spent enough time with Sakura to understand what he was talking about.

"We should probably go to class." They grabbed our bags and went to their first class, History of Magic. About halfway there, Naruto grew a bit nervous. He'd heard the History of Magic teacher was a ghost. At first, he blew it off, thinking nothing of it. But now that he was going to the actual class, he wondered if the teacher was in fact a ghost.

"Hey, Ron, what is the teacher like?" Ron looked over at Naruto.

"You mean Professor Binns?" Naruto nodded. "Well, for one, he is the most boring teacher in the history of teachers. He drones on and on. Within the first five minutes of class, you're likely to doze off. The only one that pays the slitest bit of attention is Hermione. Oh, and Professor Binns is a ghost."

Ron kept walking. After a few seconds, he went to tell Naruto something and noticed he wasn't next to him any more. He looked behind him and saw Naruto standing there with the most horror-struck look in the world on his face. Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Naruto only stood there. Ron walked back and waved his hand in front of Naruto's face, still not getting any new emotion. He then yelled in Naruto's ear. Naruto jumped back and fell on the ground. Ron started laughing.

Once he stopped laughing, he asked Naruto, "Why'd you stop like that?" Naruto looked at Ron with a nervous look on his face.

"Well, it had to do with the whole g-ghost thing." Naruto blushed and looked away. That made Ron start laughing again.

"Don't tell me your afraid of ghosts!" Naruto slowly nodded. "Wow! You come here, where there are tons of ghosts, but your afraid of them?"

Naruto looked even more horror-struck after that little statement. There were more ghosts?

"Well, we better get going. Not that Professor Binns would notice, anyway." They ran to History of Magic. It was more like Ron was dragging Naruto with all his strength. They got there just in time for the dreadfully boring lesson.

Just as Ron said, Naruto was having a hard time paying attention. Right before Naruto fell asleep, he say that Sakura and Hermione were the only two that payed any attention. When he looked over to Sasuke, he was surprised to see him doodling. Naruto smirked before a wave of sleepiness overcame him.

Sakura glanced at her fellow ninja. She wasn't surprised to see Naruto already asleep along with the rest of the class, but she was slightly surprised of Sasuke paying very little attention.

'Hmm, he must have changed while he was gone. Oh well, I'm glad I don't like him' She thought. Right after she thought the second part, something in her told her she was wrong.

Once class was over, everyone said what a good nap they had. The golden trio walked gloomily to their next class, Potions. The three shinobi had only met Snape on a few occasions, but none of them got good vibes from him.

They waited in the hall outside his classroom. Everyone was talking quietly, even though Naruto had no clue why. Suddenly, the door to potions opened and the hall went quiet. Snape, with his dark black, greasy hair and abnormally large nose, appeared. He beckoned them into the classroom.

Everyone went to a seat, with the golden trio and three shinobi in the back, and sat down.

"Quiet down." There was absolutely no reason for him to say that. The whole room was already deathly quiet. "This year is a very important year. You will be taking your O.W.L.s. Just to let everyone know, I will not allow anyone with less than an acceptable to go into my N.E.W.T class. That means quite a few of you will be saying good-bye to potions." His eyes went to Neville, who sunk a bit in his seat, and then to Harry, who glared back at Snape.

"Today, you will be mixing the Draught of Peace, whick occurs in O.W.L.s often. If you mess this potion up, you may put the drinker in an irreversable sleep, so pay close attention to what you are doing."

"The ingredients and method are on the blackboard. Everything you need is in the store cupboard. You have an hour and a half. Begin."

Everyone was struggling with the particularly difficult potion. Everyone except Hermione and Sakura. About thirty minutes in, Naruto accidentally hit his cauldron, making the liquid inside it fall all over the table. Once it hit the wood, it started burning. For some reason, it wasn't burning a normal color, though. It was burning bright pink.

Everyone flew from there seat and flattened themselves against the wall. Snape rolled his eyes, took out his wand, mumbled something inaudible, and the fire disappeared.

"Mr. Uzumaki, is your eyesight malfunctioned?" Naruto shook his head, dreading what was to come next. "Well, it sure seems like it is. In the second line, it says stir clockwise five times. How many times did you stir it?"

Naruto gulped. "I lost count after a few, so I probably stirred it ten times." The expression on Snape's face made the room temperature drop twenty degrees. Naruto shivered.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor. Next time, you will be sitting in the front row next to Draco. I want you to pack up your things and sit over in that chair." Snape pointed to a chair next to his desk. "Back to work!" Everyone quickly went back to what they were originally doing. Ron gave Naruto a look that said, 'Sorry. I wish I could help.'

Naruto glumly sat in the seat while he watched the rest of the class complete their potions. With five minutes remaining, Naruto grew a bit impatient. He started tapping his foot. Snape looked at him with a look of such disgust that Naruto immediately stopped tapping.

"There should be a silvery vapor rising from your cauldrons." Naruto looked through the mist to see Sakura's, Hermione's, and Sasuke's all had a silvery mist, though Sasuke's was a bit darker. Harry's was emitting puffs of dark gray steam.

"Potter, what are you making?" Naruto noticed Harry's face pale slightly before he answered. "The Draught of Peace."

"Read the third line for me." Harry looked at the board. "'Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellbore."

"Did you do everything on the third line?" Snape asked, while smirking.

"No, I forgot the hellbore..." Harry said, heart sinking.

"This potion has no worth without the hellbore. _Evanesco._"

Harry's potion vanished. Naruto stood up and started talking. "Who cares if he forgot one little thing? Have you seen what some of these people have? I mean, that ones orange!" He was pointing to Malfoy's potion. Snape glared at Naruto before getting directly in his face.

"Draco has talent, while Potter has no talent. You shouldn't even be talking. If I remember correctly, it was your potion that caused a fire that could kill with a single touch. You now have a detention. Everyone who has managed to make the potion, put it in a flask, put your name on it, and put it on my desk. Class dismissed. Mr. Uzumaki, we need to arrange your detention."

After class was lunch. Naruto's mouth was watering. He hadn't eaten breakfast, since he slept in so late.

Suddenly, the wall the group just passed blew up. Shards of rock flew in all directions. They stopped in their tracks and tried to see through the dust.

"Well, well, well, I guess he wasn't lying after all. I'm quite surprised." The three shinobi knew that voice. They had heard it once before. Then, it clicked in all their heads.

They attomatically got in battle ready postion, leaving the golden trio utterly confused.

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Finally, some action scenes! Woohoo! I just hope they make sense. I think this might be my fastest and longest update. :D

Updated on 8-26-10.


	7. Chapter 7

This has probably been one of the hardest chapters so far. It has taken a lot of thought. I know for a fact the fighting scene isn't that great, so please tell me how I can improve on it. Thanks for waiting patiently for this chapter, and thanks for all the reviews!

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Chapter 7

Sasuke glared at the new arrival with killing intent streaming off of him. Naruto and Sakura glanced at him with slight worry. They knew who this man was and what he'd done.

When Sasuke had come back, he had to tell Tsunade the names of the people that would only allow their leader to be Orochimaru. He only gave about ten names, due to the fact that Orochimaru didn't let him go wherever he wanted. There was one that seemed to have taken over leadership when Orochimaru was devoured.

The person in front of them was one Sasuke had tended to piss off quite easily. His name was Michio Koyama. Michio nooticed Sasuke was in front of him and began to glare.

"Well, well, well, what a surprise! The one man who said he was done with Konoha is wearing their headband once again!" Michio sneared. Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Naruto, Sakura, let me handle this. You protect those three." He pointed to the golden trio. Then, he ripped of his school robes to show his ninja gear. The three wizards grew even more confused. "Michio and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"But Sasu-!" Naruto began, but Sasuke cut him off. "Naruto! You remember who this man is, right?"

Naruto thought back to right after Sasuke was allowed to roam freely around the village.

_Flashback_

_Naruto was running down the stairs from the Hokage's office. He had gone their to recieve a new mission. Instead, he overheard Tsunade talking to shizune saying that Sasuke was allowed to go around the village freely._

_He was on his way to find the teme. Neither Naruto nor Sakura were allowed to see Sasuke since Naruto brought him back. The council (mainly Tsunade) wanted to wait and see if he would stay loyal to them. If not, he was to be tortured and possibly killed. But, he had managed to do the things Tsunade alloted him to do._

_Naruto finally spotted Sasuke walking down the street with his hands in his pockets. _

_"Sasuke!!" Naruto yelled. __Sasuke turned to see the knucklehead. He had to admit, Naruto had grown quite a bit. He wasn't so overly hyperactive anymore._

_"Hn." Sasuke turned back around and began walking again. He was glad he was free again, but they had still striped him of his ninja status until further notice. His katana was taken from him and several seals were placed on him, repressing his chakra. _

_"Wait, Sasuke!" Naruto ran up to Sasuke. Sasuke stopped and glared at Naruto. "What do you want?" Sasuke put a little more anger into the question than he meant to._

_"Kakashi, Sakura, and I are eating dinner at Ichiraku's tonight. We were wondering if you wanted to come." Sasuke stared at Naruto for a second before answering._

_"Why would I want to do that?" Sasuke started walking again, leaving Naruto behind. Then, out of nowhere, a man appeared. This man landed dirctly in front of Sasuke, cutting him off. Seeing this, Naruto jumped out of his trance._

_"Sasuke, how pathetic. You come back here?" Sasuke stared at the man in front of him. "Michio Koyama, I didn't realize you wanted to see me so bad. Do you want me to beat you up again?"_

_Michio took a step back from Sasuke and glared. "I've grown much stronger. _He _has taught me a lot while you went off and came back here."_

_"Why don't I believe that?" Sasuke glanced next to him where a staff lay. It was obviously one of Ten-Ten's weopens that had flown all over the village when a battle took place. It was just what he needed._

_Swiftly, he bent down and grabbed it. This made Michio burst out laughing. "Are you telling me that this worthless village decided to strip you of your ninja status, taking your katana away, and sealing your chakra away?! How absolutely pathetic! You can't beat me with such a worthless weapen!"_

_"I can easily beat you with this." Sasuke jabbed the staff forward, aiming for Michio's arm. Michio easily dodged the attempt. He got out his own katana and sliced the staff in half. Sasuke smirked and grabbed the other half. He now had two weapens._

_Naruto watched in awe as Sasuke fought with the broken staff. Even though he was getting beaten up, Sasuke still was delivering just as many blows to Michio as Michio was delivering to Sasuke. If only Sasuke had his chakra..._

_'Oh, yeah, I've got my chakra, why don't I help him?' Naruto thought. With that, he did his favorite jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

_One shadow clone appeared next to Naruto. Then, Naruto started his second favorite jutsu._

_Sasuke wasn't doing so well. He had numerous cut on his body and he was panting heavily. Of course, Michio had his multiple bruises from the staff. They were both growing tired. Michio hadn't been able to get a very deep cut, much to his disdain. Maybe Sasuke really was stronger than him._

_Michio noticed a bright blue light from behind Sasuke. That's when he first saw Naruto. The orb that was spinning in the boy's hand was scaring Michio. He had a feeling it would do a lot of damage if it came in contact with him._

_Naruto started running for Michio as fast as he could. He jumped over Sasuke and shouted, "Rasengan!" _

_Naruto slammed the jutsu into Michio. Unfortunitly, it hit his arm instead of his chest. It nearly ripped his arm clean off. Michio's screams vibrated throughout the village._

_Naruto landed on his feet and turned around to Sasuke. "You alright?" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's nothing like getting beat up without the use of your chakra or any of your weapens."_

_Naruto started laughing his head off. He was a bit shocked that Sasuke suddenly had a sense of humer._

_"Sasuke, you know I'm going to tell him that you are here, right?" A voice said in extreme pain. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked over to Michio. "I'd call you stupid if you didn't."_

_Michio stood up, killing intent still coming off of him, and jumped out of sight._

_"Naruto? I think I will have some ramen with you guys."_

Naruto smirked at the end of the memory. Then, he remembered what was going on in the real world. This Michio figure hadn't shown any of his other abilities besides using a sword. He hoped Sasuke knew them.

"What do you know? It's the kid that nearly ripped my arm off. Too bad I know a lot of people that can heal me in an instant. We should have a re-match." Sasuke glared even more at him. "You'll be fighting me today, Michio.

"Oh, I probably won't be fighting any of you today. My leader merely wanted to know who was protecting that brat over there and if the Jinchuuriki was here as well."

Naruto stiffined slightly while Sakura sent a nervous glance at him. They were after his tenant again. Why was it always him?

"I don't care what your leader wanted. You will die today." Sasuke grabbed his katana and pulled it out. Michio smirked.

"If it's a fight you want," He pulled his katana out as well, "It's a fight you'll get."

They jumped at each other with the intention to kill.

Sasuke blocked the first attack. Michio glared at Sasuke and then smiled. A kunai came flying at Sasuke from Michio's other hand. Sasuke pushed himself away from Michio, dodging the kunai at the last second.

"W-who is that person?" A frightened Hermione asked. Naruto answered.. "He is Michio Koyama. He is someone from our old school. He likes to get into fights."

"Why aren't either of them using wands? And what's with those swords?" Ron asked. Sakura answered this time. "We had a class on weaponry in case we didn't have our wands with us. Sasuke is better with a katana than he is with a wand.

Harry remained quiet. He was the only one that had caught what this Michio figure said. 'These guys are protecting me? Why? I can protect myself!' Harry's anger began to grow. 'Who are these people?!?!'

"You seem to have gotten slower, Sasuke. Where's the guy who could easily beat me?" Michio taunted. He smirked, which caused Sasuke's anger to grow.

"You seem to be slightly better, but it makes no difference. I will destroy you!" Sasuke was getting worked up. He knew he shouldn't be but he couldn't help it. He realized it felt like what he felt towards Itachi. Why, though?

Michio sprang forward after noticing Sasuke let his guard down. Sasuke put his katana up to block.

There wasn't any sound of clashing metal. Sasuke lowered his katana to look, but he saw nothing.

Michio was gone. No one moved for a few seconds. Finally, Sasuke put his katana away and grabbed his school uniform. He walked away, with a angry glint in his eyes.

"Shouldn't we clean the mess up?" Hermione asked hesitently. Sakura nodded. They both took out their wands and cast reparo on the wall. The bricks flew back together and went back to where they came from. The wall looked brand new, or as new as it looked before it was blown apart. The hall was free of any dust that flew about.

"Hey, guys, do you think we could still get lunch, or do you think it's already over?" Naruto whined. A loud noise came from his stomach. Sakura grinned.

"I'm sure we can get lunch, once we tell them we were attacked. You three should probably go to your next class." She pointed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron started to pout.

"But we never ate lunch! And shouldn't we go report the attack with you so we can give our point of view? And so we can get lunch?" Both Sakura and Hermione rolled their eyes.

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and began to drag him away. "Is food the only thing you think about? We have to get to the next class."

They continued bickering down the hall. Sakura turned and noticed Harry still standing there. "Harry, you should get going too."

Harry looked up and nodded. He made a mental note to talk to them later.

"Come on, Naruto. We should probably get Sasuke before we report." Naruto nodded, not really hearing her. He was too preoccupied with how hungry he was to care.

* * *

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you didn't, I completely understand. Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

Hello again! Hopefully, the next chapter won't take so long to upload! Thank you again for all the reviews I have gotten so far.

Freddieangie- Yeah, I figured that out after the third chapter. At least it'll be different!

Right, time for the story!

* * *

Chapter 8

Sasuke trudged up the stairs to the owlry. He had the worst glare on his face. He had grabbed spare robes and thrown them on over his ninja gear after he went to the common room. Since he couldn't stand the noise, he went to a quieter place.

'Damn that Michio! He's definitely gotten stronger. But why'd he leave? He should have finished the fight!' By the time Sasuke made it to the top of the owlry, he was steaming with anger.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I was just leaving!" Sasuke looked up at the voice and saw a scrawny girl with soft, brown curls. Her eyes looked as though you could walk right in and find the sea. There was a slight blush on her face. Sasuke looked out the window and saw a owl flying in the distance. He returned his attention to the girl in front of him.

"What's you're name?" The girl blushed even more when Sasuke spoke.

"Evelyn Pennant. And you're Sasuke Uchiha, right?" Sasuke merely nodded. He looked at her face again. She looked very young, but he had a feeling she was older than she looked. He looked at her robes and saw she was in Hufflepuff.

"If you want me to leave, I will." Sasuke realized he was still glaring. He lessened the glare to his normal look. He instantly noticed that Evelyn grew a bit more calm.

"Actually, I'd like the company." Evelyn smiled genuinely.

'Wait, what am I doing!? Why am I not yelling at her to scram!? What has gotten into me?!' Sasuke brushed away his thoughts and focused on Evelyn.

"I've been dying to ask how you three got such interesting hair! Can you tell me?" Evelyn looked ecstatic that she could talk to him. Sasuke chuckled.

"Actually, it's our natural hair." Evelyn grew eyes of awe.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was kicking himself for being so nice and laughing at a stupid question. 'Maybe I never should have let myself return to Konoha.'

* * *

While Sasuke was freaking out at his attitude, Naruto and Sakura were desperately looking for Sasuke.

"Where did that teme go?!" Naruto yelled in frustration. Sakura severely rolled her eyes. 'Naruto and his antics will always stay the same, won't they?'

"Maybe we should just go and report what happened to Professor Dumbledore. Sasuke can report later. Plus, he's probably in a really bad mood, so it's better to let him cool off." Sakura said. Naruto sighed and nodded. A loud growl filled the current hall they were in.

Naruto sheepishly grinned. "Can we hurry up, then?"

"Baka."

They went down the hallway and to the left. At the end of that hallway, there was a large gargoyle. Both shinobi knew the importance of the gargoyle.

"Acid Pops!" The gargoyle jumped to life. The stairs slowly spiraled upwards and the two ninja hopped on.

They deported when the reached the door with the brass knocker of a Griffin. Sakura knocked twice on the door. A firm 'Enter' echoed from the room. Naruto turned the handle and walked in, Sakura following.

"What a surprise! Though, I did hear quite a ruckus downstairs. I presume you made the floor shake?" Dumbledore said. He was sitting in his chair behind his desk. His half-moon spectacles sat halfway down his crooked nose.

"Yeah, pretty much. It was Michio Koyama. He was ordered to find out who was watching Harry. Sasuke fought him, but he got away. Don't worry, the next time he comes, I'm gonna crush his skull and throw him ov-" A loud 'Ow!' issued from the mouth that was just talking.

Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh. "I'm quite sure you won't let Michio get anywhere near Harry."

Sakura suddenly remembered the other reason they were there. "Professor Dumbledore, do you think we could have lunch? We sorta missed it and Naruto's hu-" A extremely loud noise came as if on que.

"Of course. I'll send a message to the house elves to cook you some food. I presume Sasuke is upset that Michio didn't finish his fight?" Sakura looked at the floor, which told Dumbledore the truth.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what went on with him in Konoha. I have a file on all three of you from your hokage. She was nice enough to send these to me." He picked up three sheets of paper. Three blank sheets of paper.

"Um, there's nothing on them." Naruto stated the obvious. Sakura face palmed. "Naruto, there's a spell on them to hide their content, right?" She directed the last word to Dumbledore, who nodded.

"I knew that!" Sakura rolled her eyes while Dumbledore chuckled lightly. He pointed his wand at one of the three pieces of paper. Mumbling a incoherent word, the paper filled with words and a picture of Naruto. He pointed to another one and mumbled again, this time with Sakura's picture. He repeated the process one more time for Sasuke's.

Dumbledore looked over the three sheets of paper. "I was quite impressed with you're abilities. You have a very interesting way of fighting."

He then looked at Sasuke's only. A wrinkle appeared on his forehead. "I am very proud of the fact that you two brought him back to his senses. It must have been pretty hard to get him to reason with you."

"Actually," Naruto interrupted, "he pretty much just gave up. I guess he knew he was no match for us. Or maybe he was sick of running around trying to revive his clan. All he has to do is find a girl to revive it. Why didn't he realize that revenge isn't gonna get him anywhere?"

The room had fallen quiet. Sakura glanced out the window. Naruto just stared at his feet, and Dumbledore was looking at Naruto's particular file.

To say the least, he was slightly disturbed by Naruto's little tenant. As long as nothing happened with it, Dumbledore promised himself he'd just ignore it. According to the file, Naruto was the kind of person that would go to any length to save his friends. Dumbledore admired that, and it reminded him of a certain wizard he knew.

"Professor Dumbledore? Would it be alright if I took a look at your hand?" Dumbledore looked up at Sakura, who had just spoken. He nodded politely and let his blackened hand out of the sleeve of his robe.

Naruto pouted for the few minutes Sakura was looking at his hand. His stomach had growled profussly, and their lunch still hadn't come. Dumbldore had summoned a table and two chairs for when the food did come.

Sakura, on the other hand, was looking at Dumbledore's hand. She used her medical ninjutsu to figure out what had blackened it. After a few moments, she realized it was a curse.

"How exactly did you manage to get this curse on your hand?" Dumbledore sighed. He stood up and went to his desk. After rummaging through his desk, he came back with a ring in his hand. "I got it after putting this on my finger. I should have known better, but I was excited that I had found it."

Sakura took the ring and studied it. She noticed it had a rather large stone on it with a crack going down the middle, as though something had punctured it. She gave the ring back and started looking at his hand again.

Minutes wandered by. Sakura finally stood up, whipping a little sweat off of her forehead. "It looks as though the curse is being held in your hand by some barrier. If the barrier was to break, the curse would spread through your body and kill you."

"I see." Dumbledore didn't seem fazed at all by the news. That put Sakura on a slight edge. "Also, it looks like the barrier isn't going to hold for much longer. I could make an antidote to hold it for longer if you want."

Dumbledore still had a smile on his face as he pandered his possibilities. "I don't mind if you do or not. Whatever pleases you."

At that, Sakura wasted no time in started the complicated antidote. Tsunade had given her a small medical kit filled with various herbs before she left on her mission.

A knock issued from the door. With a quiet "Come in." from Dumbledore, the door opened reveling two odd little creatures. Naruto stared at one of them for a few moments before holding down snickers.

The one he was looking at had a pile of hats towering on it's head, along with multiple socks and sweaters. The other one didn't look like it wanted to be anywhere near the first.

"Ah, marvelous, you brought the food. Thank you Dobby, Winky." The two creatures walked in and placed the trays on the table. Then, the one with a lot of hats spoke.

"You are most welcome. Dobby and Winky will be going now." They then bowed (Naruto had to hold in even more snickers because Dobby's hats all fell off).

Dobby picked up his hats and apologized. Then they left.

Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. It resulted in getting bonked in the head by Sakura.

"Were they the house elves?" Sakura asked. Dumbledore nodded. "They work down in the kitchen. Hogwarts has the most house elves in England."

"What was with the one that had tons of clothes on? The other just had that tiny thing covering it!" Naruto asked, not completely out of chuckles.

"That was Dobby. He was set free by Harry three years ago. Even though he is a free elf, he still asked for a job. Anyway, enough about house elves, you two must be pretty hungry. Eat up!" The two shinobi sat down and began their late lunch. Naruto practically inhaled his food, while Sakura slowly ate hers.

"That reminds me, you two missed your next class. That means you have to go directly to Defense Against the Dark Arts, if I'm not mistaken." Sakura jumped up.

"I can't believe I missed Ancient Runes! This isn't good! Come on, Naruto!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him out of Dumbledore's office. Dumbldore smiled at their energy.

* * *

Harry and Ron were walking to their next class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron was grumbling about lack of food in his system. Harry, however, hadn't said a word since the little fight they witnessed.

'Why? Why am I always the one that has to be protected? I'm completely capable of protecting myself! Why doesn't Dumbledore ever understand that?' Harry was still steaming when the reached the classroom. To complicate matters, said protectors were already there. 'I wonder why they didn't show up to class? Probably talking to Dumbledore about the fight.'

As Harry thought about Dumbledore, some more anger came up to meet his current anger. This was not a good thing.

"Harry? Are you alright? You haven't said anything since before Divination." Ron asked.

"I'll tell you later."

The class walked into the classroom. Everyone was fairly silent, since they didn't really know what Umbridge would be like.

"Good afternoon, class." Said person chirped. A few students mumbled in reply. "Tut, tut, that's not what I want to hear. You will answer with a 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' Let's try that again. Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." The class said in unison.

The class began boring. They had to read the first chapter of the most boring book ever. The only one who wasn't reading was Hermione. As people stopped reading, since it was to hard to focus, they began to stare at Hermione. She had her hand raised.

Once most of the class was focused on Hermione, Umbridge finally called on her.

"Yes? Do you have a question?" Umbridge asked with a squeaky voice.

"I've finished the book and I was wondering why nothing in this book is about using spells to defend ourselves." Umbridge smiled.

"Why would you use defensive spells? Do you think you will be attacked in this classroom?" Umbridge looked around, threatining someone to contradict her.

"We aren't going to be using magic?" Harry burst out.

"We raise our hands in this classroo-" Professor Umbridge was cut off suddenly.

"I could care less about raising my hand! If we don't use magic and practice, we can't defend ourselves in the real world!" Harry yelled. A few students nodded in agreement. Umbridge's smile grew.

"10 points from Gryffindor." Naruto was glaring just as hard as Harry was. "This isn't the real world. And besides, what would attack you out in the real world?"

"Voldemort would without even thinking about it!" The whole class took a sharp intake of breath. Umbridge faltered for a moment, but quickly reformed herself.

"You have been told a certain wizard has returned. This is nothing but a _lie_." At that, Naruto stood up, having the patience of zero.

"So you think that Harry is lying? He witnessed it himself! He witnessed Voldemort being reborn and you don't believe it? You're too scared to admit that your precious Ministry of Magic is wrong!" Naruto bellowed. The whole class was silent. Even Harry was surprised at what Naruto did. Still, Naruto should have known better than get involved.

"You will recieve detention for a week for standing up to Mr. Potter, Mr. Uzumaki. Sit down." Naruto didn't sit. He stared Umbridge down to the bone.

Umbridge's smile grew a hundred times more venomous. "Come here, Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto slowly walked to her desk, still staring her down. She grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment. She wrote a small paragraph, rolled it up, and handed it to Naruto.

"If you would be so kind, could you bring this to Professor McGonagall." Naruto grabbed it, giving Umbridge the most evil glare he could muster. He walked out of the classroom with a different destination in mind.

"Please continue reading, everyone."

* * *

I know, I changed that last seen up a lot, but if it wasn't different from the book, it would get boring! Hope you enjoyed the longest chapter yet!


	9. Chapter 9

A new chapter! Sorry I got this one out so late! I've been extremely busy lately, with Tennis practice every day. Thank you to all who reviewed. There are a few notes at the bottom, so if you can, please read them! On with the latest chapter!

* * *

Chapter 9

The Great Hall was getting pretty crowded for dinner. The two remaining shinobi sat down to eat, glad that there wasn't a constant buzz of squeals from there blonde companion. Too bad the peace never seems to last.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled across the Great Hall. A few snickers started up as he made his way to Sakura and Sasuke. The second Naruto got there, she gave him a bonk on the head.

"Naruto, you don't yell across the room. You could have easily talked to me after you got here! And I don't mean by yelling!" Sakura said. Naruto was completely ignoring her words, as he was talking to the twins about how much Umbridge looked like a frog.

"She could easily pass of as a toad under an enlarging spell, don't you think?" Fred (or was it George?) asked. The other two nodded. Unknown to the rest of the students, those three had a plan.

"Sakura, you should know by now, Naruto never listens." Sasuke said. Sakura nodded, knowing it was true.

Soon, the plates were cleared and dessert appeared. Naruto grabbed everything he possibly could and shoved it down his throat. He had really started to love English desserts. Since he didn't have ramen to fill him, desserts were the next best thing.

"When Naruto turns 30, he's going to be fat from all the food he eats." Hermione whispered to Sakura. She burst out laughing and nodded, realizing how true it was.

"He's ten times worse than this at home. He'll go to his favorite restaurant and eat 7 bowls of ramen without giving it a second thought." Hermione's mouth gaped open in surprise. To think anyone could eat so much food! That's just plain disgusting!

Sasuke paid no head to the girls discussion and let his eyes wander. He picked at his food, occasionally finding something remotely interesting and eating it. He turned around and looked up and down the Hufflepuff table. He caught Evelyn's eyes and she gave a nice wave. Sasuke smiled and turned back around, resuming his stoic face.

Their time together in the Owlery was nice. They talked about silly things. Sasuke was pretty glad to get some things off his chest. He learned quite a lot about Hogwarts and the magical community. Then, they realised they had completely missed a whole class. Evelyn ran off and Sasuke walked slowly to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He looked at the table and was glad when the desserts were no where to be seen. He stood and quickly left to the common room.

Sakura stood up and stretched, vaguely hearing Hermione run off. She turned to go to the common room but saw the path blocked by a small Hufflepuff girl. "My name is Evelyn Pennant. Can you give this to Sasuke?"

The girl held out her hand and gave Sakura a folded piece of parchment. Sakura took it and Evelyn left the scene. Sakura raised her eyebrows slightly and then sighed.

'Great, just what Sasuke needs, a secret admirer. I guess I saw this coming, though. I'm sure Naruto did too, unless he's too dense to notice anything.' Sakura thought to herself, before taking off on her delivery.

Naruto was with the twins talking about their plans while walking to the common room. Fred and George welcomed Naruto into their plans with open arms. They just happened to see him walking to Professor McGonagall's office earlier that day. Needless to say, they practically dragged him away so they could talk.

"So, when should the plan start?" Fred asked. George grinned. "Let's give it a few months, so she can see we aren't a threat."

"True, but Naruto is already on her bad side."

George grinned even more. "He's our cover-up. While she's busy worrying about him, we'll come in for the kill."

Naruto frowned slightly. Just because he screwed up once, he was now the cover up. "Do I have to be the cover-up?"

"Yes. You are the newbie in this group, so you need to see how we work. Then, you can become a full fledged member." Naruto moaned, knowing he was in for a lot of work.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. By the third prank, you'll be helping us set up." Fred shook some of Naruto's hair, making it slightly more messier than before. Naruto attempted to swat his hand away and missed. Fred and George ran, Naruto following to get his revenge.

* * *

Ron and Harry were making their way slowly to the Gryffindor tower. Ron felt like a dark cloud was following them, or following Harry, at least. He noticed Harry hadn't said a word all through dinner.

"Is there something bothering you, Harry?" Ron asked nervously. Harry sighed and stopped in his tracks. Ron almost ran into him. Harry turned around, a mysterious look on his face.

"Yeah, there is something. Do you remember the fight those three had with that guy?" Ron nodded, "Well, I heard that Michio guy say something. Did you catch it?"

Ron felt his face grow confused. Harry sighed again, knowing there was going to be a long explaination ahead. "He said he only needed to see who was protecting 'that brat over there'. He was talking about me."

Ron stood for a second, taking in the information, before he completely understood. "Do you reckon those three newbies were really told to protect you?"

Harry nodded. "That means Sasuke was protecting you from that Michio guy and Naruto was protecting you from Umbridge. He took you're punishment for you."

"Yeah. I just want to know why Dumbledore thinks I need protection. I've done just fine in the past." Ron nodded, understanding what Harry talking about. "Maybe he just thinks I'm too weak."

"You're stronger than both me and Hermione! I doubt he thinks you're weak. He might know something, so that's why he asked for them to protect you." Harry turned around and started walking. He still didn't believe Ron. Why wouldn't Dumbledore tell him if there was another reason behind it?

"Look, Harry, if Dumbledore thought you were weak, he would've pulled you out of the Triwizard Tournement last year, even if he wasn't allowed to. He wouldn't have let you and Hermione save Sirius. He doesn't think you're weak!" Ron shouted down the hall. Harry stopped for a second, considering what Ron said. His answer was to keep walking, leaving Ron behind.

"What's happened to you, Harry?"

* * *

The next couple of weeks bloomed with bright sunshine and warm weather. Naruto went to his week of detentions, due to the fact he sided with Harry, and came out scarred for life.

Ron and Hermione had noticed Harry's sudden change in attitude. He seemed more distant from everyone, acting like everyone had the plague. No matter how much they tried to break this new wall, it held together strong. Even as the weeks flew by and Quidditch started, he was still just as distant.

"Don't worry, he'll come around. He's sorta like Sasuke, in a way." Naruto told Ron in the common room one rainy Saturday morning. Ron looked up in surprise, not noticing Naruto come up behind him. "Sasuke gets like this sometimes, when something happens, but he always gets over it. Of course, it took him years to get over being an avenger."

Ron gave Naruto a confused look. Naruto then realised what he had just said. "It's not like he ever killed anybody!"

"Did I ever say he did? You don't have to keep acting like you aren't guarding Harry. Harry and I both know." Naruto sighed slightly, before thinking of what to do next. "We never told Hermione. She'd just tell us that Dumbledore is smart for doing that and Harry shouldn't be moping about it."

"Good, that makes my life a bit easier. I sort of doubt Sakura-chan will believe that I didn't let anything slip. Man, this sucks!" Naruto shivered at what he knew was going to come in the form of fists. "Is she really that bad?"

The look on Naruto's face told Ron all he needed to know. He snickered before Harry came down the stairs. "Hey, we should go get breakfast. You coming, Harry?"

Harry looked up and was about to nod before he saw a stupidly grinning Naruto. "No, I've got to go somewhere." With that, he took off through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Naruto looked over at Ron and saw an extremely depressed face. Naruto sighed, knowing what he was going through. He put a hand on his shoulder. "Like I said, he'll pull through this. Don't worry."

"Yeah, of course he will." Ron said absentmindedly. They left the common room and entered another day at Hogwarts.

* * *

"NANI?!?!" The bellow echoed through the halls of the castle, stopping everyone in their tracks. The yell was traced back to the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table. The mouth that the words came out of was one of the transfer students that held a letter from a light tan barn owl. The owl was flown back from the sheer force of the yell and immediately took off.

"Shut up, Naruto!" a very annoyed Sakura said, trying to refrain from punching the lights out of him. The only surprise Sasuke showed was actually reading the letter. It was from Tsunade.

_Dear Sakura, Sasuke, and Brat,_

_Dumbledore-sama sent me a letter saying you already had a fight with one of the enemies subordinates. Seeing as you failed miserably at stopping him, _("Hn," Sasuke said.)_ Dumbledore-sama and I have decided to send someone to help you. I don't want any complaints from you about who it is. You'll meet the person in Dumbledore-sama's office at noon today. _

_I don't want any more screw-ups. You three are causing Konoha's reputation to plummet! Dumbledore-sama paid good money to recruit you three, so we want him to recruit us again!_

_Tsunade_

_P.S. Sakura, I give you permission to beat sense into the brat if he does something stupid. Oh, and burn this letter when you're done!_

"Why would she give you permission to do that! That's not even fair!" Naruto babbled. Sakura inwardly smirked at the thought of beating sense into the baka.

"Who's the person she's sending?" Sasuke said. Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke, realising Tsunade didn't tell them who it was. "Do you expect us to know, teme?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I wasn't asking you. I was just voicing my thoughts and getting you two to get out of you're daydreams." He stood up and walked off.

"He didn't have to be so mean!" Naruto pouted. This time, it was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes. "He was just trying to help!"

"Whoa, Sasuke and help don't belong in the same sentence." Sakura got her fist in the ready position. "It was just a joke, Sakura-chan!"

"Good." Sakura stood up and left muttering about the going to the library. That left Naruto alone. He sighed and grabbed a piece of toast before leaving to burn the letter.

"Hello, our newbie!" Naruto had run right into Fred and George. "And what does our little puupy have?"

Fred made a swipe for the letter, but Naruto held it up in the air. Little did he know that George was behind him. George grabbed it and back peddled a few steps back.

"Dear Sa-" A loud 'BANG!' was heard from just outside the Great Hall, where the three pranksters were.

"And _that_ was why I didn't want you to have it." Naruto had thrown himself at George and knocked the letter out of his hands before it could self-destruct. Fred and George looked at the smoldering remains with wide eyes.

"Awesome! That's a great idea for our pranks!" "Yeah, we should color the smoke and make it dye everything the smoke touches!" "Or we could make little creatures that walk and detonate, causing a distraction!"

Naruto had a shocked look on his face as he watched the twins new plans unfold. He never thought they would think something like that was cool. Of course, he thought it was pretty cool too, so he couldn't really say much.

Unknown to any of them, they had drew in a crowd. Some students surrounded the remains of the letter, while others watched in amusement at the twins. Still more circled around Naruto.

"What is going on out here?" a very strict voice rang out. The students cleared a pathway for Professor McGonagall to pass through. When she saw Fred and George, her scowl grew fiercer. She swiped her eyes around the scene, spotted the burnt letter, and then saw Naruto with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Mr. Uzumaki, you two, I want you to explain yourselves." Naruto started before they had the chance to. "Me, Sakura, and Sasuke got a personal letter and those two tried taking it from me. George got it and I knocked it out of his hands before it could blow up."

McGonagall's eyebrows were raised unusually high. She wasn't particularly pleased with what happened, but knew why the letter would self-destruct in the wrong hands.

"I want you three to clean this mess up right now." She summoned two mops and a broom so they could clean up their mess. The three said people sighed and grabbed the cleaning products.

"On three, I'm going to use the broom to shove the ashes in her face. That's when we make a run for it." Naruto whispered as they pretended to begin cleaning. They silently counted up to three before Naruto swept the ashes directly into Professor McGonagall's surprised face.

"HAHA!" Naruto and the twins ran as fast as they could away from the scene. A coughing McGonagall attempted to yell at them to come back, but she had inhaled half the ashes. By the time she had finally caught her breath, they were long gone.

"YOU THREE WILL BE PUNISHED FOR THIS!"

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura had met up on their way to Dumbledore's office. It was five minutes to noon. The last they had heard of Naruto was a rumor of him and the twins pulling a prank on Professor McGonagall. Sakura reminded herself to have yet another 'friendly' talk with him.

"Hey Sakura-Chan!" Speak of the devil. Neither of them bothered turning around, since they definitely knew who it was. Sure enough, a blonde, orange and black blur flew past them.

The blur kept going, until it hit the gargoyle in front of them. 'Typical Naruto.' Sasuke thought.

"Baka." Sakura mumbled.

Naruto stood up, and grinned at his friends. "Sorry about that. I was just slightly excited about whoever is coming! I wonder if it's Sai, or Kakashi-sensei." Naruto continued to talk, while being completely ignored by both Sakura and Sasuke.

They said the new password, lemon drop, and went up the familiar stairs. Sasuke knocked and a quiet, "Enter," came from the room. Sasuke opened the door.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, a small smile on his face. The three shinobi walked in.

"Ah, good, you're just on time. The portkey will be here in three, two, one." Right on cue, a painting of color appeared in front of them. Once the spinning stopped, the newcomer stood up and turned to Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.

"NANI?!?!" two voices yelled out, vibrating through the castle.

* * *

I'm mean, aren't I? Anyway, I just want to say I encourage you to tell me what I need to improve on. Only one person has given me any criticism! I don't care if you give me something like that, as long as it doesn't say 'This story sucks.' I want to find out ways to improve on this!

I also want to see if anyone can guess who Tsunade sent to help them. I might be willing to make a oneshot for whoever gets it! Whoever does win will be able to customize the oneshot to what they want it to be!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello again! Thank you for all of the reviews! I'm happy this story has gotten over the 50 review mark! I have a few things about this story I figured I should point out. (Thanks, Umbramew!) Nani is one way of saying 'what' in Japanese.

Yeah, that's about it. On with the story!

* * *

Chapter 10

"SHIZUNE!" A loud bellow could be heard from inside the red-orange building that dominated over all other buildings. People from all around ignored this, since it happened at least twice a day.

Inside this building, said ninja was scrambling to the Hokage's room, arm full of scrolls. Slamming the door open, she deposited the scrolls on the desk. Less than a second later, she ran back out, heaving air into her lungs. Tsunade grabbed the closest scroll, ripping it open at the fastest speed possible without ripping it.

Her golden brown eyes scanned the document. She threw that scroll and grabbed another scroll. She contined this process for a few more minutes before she found her target.

"SHIZUNE, YOU BETTER HURRY UP!" The doors flew open, as if it was destined to. This time, in the girls arms, were about ten books, each getting thicker than the last.

"Here," was all she could say, since she was completely drained of oxygen. Tsunade grabbed the first book, which was titled, 'Different Forms of Chakra Control'. Skimming the contents page, she flipped to page 362. This chapter was titled, 'The 7th Form: Magic'. The next three minutes were filled with the sound of flipping pages, the intake of air, and the occasional sip of sake.

"Found it!" Shizune looked up and walked over to the desk. She moved her deep black eyes to were the finger was pointing. It read:

_'Though 'magic' is their sense of what chakra is, every hundred years or so, a person who has the ability to manipulate chakra like us, is born. That certain person does not depend on family heritage, it depends on what century they are born in. If they are born at the beginning of the century, they are more likely to posses this unique power.'_

"What does that mean?" Shizune asked skeptically. Tsunade held the bridge of her nose. She was praying it wouldn't be happening now. Out of all the times it could have happened, it had to be this century.

"Well, Dumbledore-sama sent this letter. He said he had seen some suspicios behaivor in someone. To him, it looked like chakra manipulation. According to this," Tsunade held up the scroll from earlier, "This century is the century mentioned in this book. It means someone at, or around Hogwarts can manipulate chakra besides Team 7."

Shizune's mouth had gaped more and more throughout the whole speach. For one, she hadn't realized Tsunade could actually consintrate on something other than drinking and gambling. The other reason was because she was surprised something like this could even happen.

Tsunade rummaged under the pile of scrolls and found the list of availible ninja. She scrolled through it, finally finding a person she knew could figure this mess out. She shoved some of the scrolls off the desk and dove her hand into the desk. She found the paper for the letter she would have to send. If only Team 7 could have some luck once in a while.

"Shizune!" Shizune straitened her stance. "I want you to go get-!"

* * *

Two of the three ninja stared in complete shock. The other one had guessed she would send this particular person. "W-w-what is-?"

"Quite gawking like an idiot. I only came since it was an order, but it's all too troublesome." In front of them stood Shikamaru Nara, the laziest of the rookie nine. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. "Tsunade-sama said it was important that I went and told me to give this to you."

In his hand was a scroll with a seal on it. Shikamaru handed it to Sakura. Naruto was still shocked they would send this lazy guy to help them. Kakashi, Kiba, or heck, even Ino was better than this lazy bum.

"Why'd baa-chan send _you_ of all the people she could have sent?" Naruto asked rather rudely. Shikamaru yawned before saying, "It's all in the letter. It would be too troublesome to tell you since you can't comprehend anything."

A tick mark appeared on Naruto's head. Shikamaru ignored this completely, mumbling things like 'talking' and 'troublesome'. "Well, if you thought it was soo troublesome, why didn't you protest?"

"Simple. It's to-."

"Too troublesome, we know. Thats your main line," Sakura said, rather annoyed. Shikamaru sighed, glad he didn't have to repeat himself for the millionth time.

"If you are finished talking, we need to sort Mr. Nara into a house. I have the sorting hat all ready." A few of the people jumped, having completely forgotten Dumbledore was in the room with them.

Dumbledore gestured to a nearby stool. Shikamaru trudged over and sat, feeling the rough texture of the hat fall on his head. Silence insued the room for a second before a small steadly grew in his head.

'Wow, what a boring life.' Shikamaru raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously not expecting an inatimate object to talk. 'How can you stand to watch clouds all day long? I'd be bored to absolute death.'

'Hey, just because I enjoy doing that doesn't mean you have to be discusted by it. I'm the one doing it, not you.' Shikamaru thought, knowing how stupid he'd sound if he talked out loud.

'Alright, you win. You deserve to be in Ravenclaw, with a mind like your's.' Shikamaru inwardly sighed. He didn't care what house he was put in. He just wanted to be put in a house and get it over with.

'Seeing as I'm in a giving mood today, I'll put you with you're friends.' Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Gryffindor!"

"Well, if you are all done here, you may go to your next class." Dumbledore said in a cheerful tone. "Here is a schedule, Mr. Nara."

Shikamaru took the peice of parchment half-heartidly. He would much rather be outside watching the clouds fly by. Only then would he truly be at peace.

They left Dumbledore's study and made their way to their way to there next class. Shikamaru had Care of Magical Creatures next with Sasuke. No matter how long Sasuke had been back for, Shikamaru still didn't trust the guy.

"Glad yer all here. Got a real treat today, since there's a new person at our school." Hagrid, the gamekeeper, paused and let the other students realize what he just said. Shikamaru felt the on slaughter of curious looks bombard him. He rolled his eyes and muttered his favorite word.

"Anyway, here's some flobberworms. I'm not sure what they eat yet, so give them some of each." The class looked half revolted at the slimy grubs in front of them. Shikamaru sighed and walked foreward. He would rather find the most comfortable spot on the grass and sleep, but he knew he'd have to get the job done.

"Good man. Yer the only one who wants ter help." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and started feeding a particularly fat flobberworm some lettuce.

* * *

"I hope Shikamaru can survive." Sakura said, while in the common room. Her and Naruto had a free period, so they decided to spend it studying. At least, Sakura did.

"He'll be fine. He's gotten through worse things than this. He'll fly through the class." Naruto had his wand and was focusing on making a crumpled up piece of paper fly through the room, hitting people in the back of the head.

Sakura sighed, as three people stood up to yell at Naruto. 'Some things will never change.'

Suddenly, the common room portrait burst open to show a disgruntled Hermione. Naruto and Sakura immediantly stood and ran to her. They looked at her, worry written all over there faces.

"What happened? Tell us!" Naruto half-yelled at her. She looked on the verge of tears. "They're gone! They w-were taken!"

Faster than the eye could see, Naruto and Sakura were gone. Hermione fell to the floor and broke into sobs. There wasn't any other sound in the whole common room. No one understood what just happened, and no one understood why Hermione was crying.

"What is going on in here?" A voice appeared behind Hermione. "What is all of th- Ms. Granger, what on earth is wrong?"

Hermione lifted her head slightly to see Professor McGonagall. She tried to talk, but all that came out were more sobs. Professor McGonagall squated down and helped Hermione into a sitting positon, soothing her as she did so.

"Please, tell me what's wrong?" Hermione took a few deep breaths before whispering, "Harry and Ron were kidnapped."

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were going full speed ahead. They followed Harry's scent outside to the forbidden forest. They paused for only a brief second to make sure they were on the right trail before penetrating the forest.

"Who would want to take Ron too?" Naruto asked, not realizing the obviousness in the question. Sakura ignored him and asked the better question. "Why did they leave Hermione behind?"

Naruto pondered the surface of the question. Maybe whoever took Harry and Ron thought Hermione wasn't worthy of being taken, Naruto thought. Or maybe they thought she wasn't a threat, since girls are generally more weak than guys. Then again, Sakura-chan is incredibly strong.

Sakura was also having a deep inner conversation. She could understand why both Harry and Ron would be taken. Harry, because he was the one person that could defeat Voldemort, and Ron, because they were best friends and were probably together at the time. But why wouldn't they take Hermione? It was obvious they were all together when those two were taken, so why didn't she get taken too? Unless...

A large snap vibrated through the forest at an abnormally fast rate. Naruto and Sakura rooted themselves on a tree branch. They used there heightened senses to try and find where the noise had come from. There was only silence all around them.

"Where did that come from?" Naruto asked, creating a tick on Sakura's hissed, "Shut up, you'll blow our cover!"

They waited a little longer and eventually started again. About ten minutes passed before they saw a sign rather than a smell. On the ground were marks. They looked like marks that involved a struggle, possibly a fight. The shinobi jumped down and stealthily looked around. Sakura went to a suspicious tree and saw burn marks, probably from a spell. There were many more marks just like that.

"What do you think?" Naruto asked. Sakura sighed, which gave Naruto a bad feeling.

"Well, I think this is either were they were taken, or where they tried to escape." Sakura sighed again, wishing this didn't happen. They wandered out, gathering information quickly on the battle area. Naruto figured out...absolutely nothing. He mostly just walked around, pretending to pick up the information. He knew he couldn't concentrate that long.

Sakura was picking up every bit of information she could. For one, she realized that not all of the damage could have been done with a wand. There was one particularly deep slash that suggested a sword. 'Or a really long knife.' She thought, knowing it wasn't the latter.

Sakura walked over to Naruto and began explaining her findings. "There was one thing that struck to me as odd. There was a mark that only a sword could do. To make matters worse, there were burn marks around the edge of the gash. This pretty much tells us at least one of the capters was a ninja with lightning abilities."

Naruto stood in thought for a moment before gasping. "That sounds just like Michio!"

Sakura stood still for a moment, realizing just how dead they were. "Naruto, we have to go back and get help. There's absolutely no way we can beat Michio! It only makes it worse since there are more than just him!"

"Who cares! If we stop looking for them now, they could be anywhere! From what we've learned, this country is huge! We have to get to them while we still can!" Naruto desperately wanted to save them before it was too late. He wanted Sakura to see that, but the expression on her face said otherwise.

"Fine. You go back all you want. I'm going to keep going." He took of before Sakura could protest. "Wait, Naruto!"

Naruto only distinctly heard Sakura's voice, since he had went as fast as possible to put distance between them. He wished this didn't have to happen, but since when does anything ever go right in his life?

* * *

Shorter than the last, and took longer to update. I'm really sorry, guys, for talking so long to update. School has just been terrible, so I'm not on as much. Hopefully, I will get out of this monthly update habit I picked up. Actually, I definitely will.

Anyway, any questions, please just ask, and I'll answer them. R&R, peeps, R&R.


	11. Chapter 11

Yeah, so that last chapter had some interesting things happen. Don't ask, they were spur of the moment.

* * *

Chapter 11

Naruto was speeding alone through the forest. He was having doubts about his split second decision to leave Sakura behind like he did. Maybe if he had went along with her...

'No. It would have given the people who took them get away with ease. What I did was right' He reassured himself. Still, there was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he was wrong.

A large crash reverberated across the forest. Naruto stopped, kunai out in position for any attacks. There was only silence. He turned his head to get a better perspective. He blinked away a raindrop and jumped out of his skins.

"What the hell!?!?" He screamed. Standing in front of him was Harry, but at the same time, it wasn't Harry. Gone were his pristine green eyes. They had been replaced with blood red eyes, pupils barely noticeable in the intense crimson. The shine of life had disappeared from his body. He was pale enough to cause any medics to freak out. Naruto was in complete shock.

Before Naruto could get out of his daze, he was flung backwards and into a tree. His back felt as though it was on fire, but he went through the pain and stood up. He looked forward and saw Harry with his wand pointed directly at him. Naruto jumped out of the way just as Harry cast a spell with a gray haze. Naruto didn't know what spell Harry had just used, but he got a very bad feeling when the tree it hit blew up.

Naruto ran a few yards and ducked behind a tree. He used his pristine hearing to listen for even the slightest breath. Instead of a breath, he heard a moan. Looking to his right, Naruto saw a figure laying on the ground. Naruto carefully walked over towards the mass and saw flaming red hair. Knowing it was Ron right away, he found Ron's arms bound by a heavy rope. When Naruto tried cutting through it with a kunai, he failed. That led him to the conclusion that it was a rope done by magic.

_"__Come out, come out, Naruto. Come out and die." _A shiver flew through Naruto's body. The voice was so cold and heartless! This was definitely not Harry's voice. He was being possessed by something, or more likely, someone.

Naruto wanted to go out and get Harry back to his own mind, but something held him back. For some reason, he felt as though he should wait. He had a feeling something was going to happen that would end this possession.

_"Naruto, I know you'd rather die a fighter. You don't want to die a coward, do you?"_ Naruto gritted his teeth. He didn't want to die a coward. But the foreshadowing was too strong. He couldn't let himself be reveled yet. He turned his attention back to Ron.

Naruto took out his wand and touched the ropes. They shook slightly, before they began to unwrap Ron's body. Suddenly, Naruto heard the swish of a wand before he saw the red stunning spell speeding towards him.

* * *

Sakura was fuming as she ran into the castle. 'How could Naruto do something so stupid and rash? I'm going to murder him when I see him again!' Sakura angrily flew up the stairs in search of Sasuke or Shikamaru.

Turning a sharp corner, she almost ran into Ginny. "Sorry! I'm in a hurry!"

Ginny was about to say something when Sakura ran past her. Ginny wanted to tell her Hermione had disappeared from the common room a few minutes ago. Now, Sakura would have to find out herself.

Sakura decided her best bet was the common room and headed there tight away. She got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and was practically screaming the password at her face. "MIMBULUS MIMBLETONIA!"

The Fat Lady covered her ears and said, "Pipe down! I've got a headache!" She opened the portrait and let Sakura pass through. Sakura stopped in the middle of the room and turned around in a circle. She didn't see Sasuke or Shikamaru anywhere. Actually, she hadn't seen anyone in the whole common room.

Right before she ran back out, there was a snap upstairs in the girl's dormitory. Sakura turned towards it and began walking up the stairs as quietly and as quickly as possible. She stopped at the top of the stairs and listened. She heard a shuffling of feet in the third room on the right. Sakura walked over to it and opened the door a crack.

The room was pitch black. Sakura squinted to try and get something in her focus, but it didn't work. She then decided to heighten the senses in her eyes and put her hands into the ram seal and concentrated some of her chakra to her eyes. When she felt her senses getting more accustomed to the dark, she peered back into the room.

She thought a whirlwind had hit the room. There were papers everywhere, the curtains on the beds had been torn to shreds. She took out her wand and murmured, "Lumos."

A silver blur flew towards her and her arm went numb. She dropped her wand, which went out like a candle. Sakura looked down at her arm and saw a kunai embedded in her forearm. When she attempted to move her hands, only pain came. She wanted to focus on healing herself, but there was still a threat in the room.

She backed up just in time. The door burst open and someone in black pounced out. Sakura got a kunai in her operable hand and got into the fighting stance.

The other person looked at her with dark brown eyes and pelted towards Sakura, kunai in hand. Unfortunately for them, Sakura didn't only block with a simple kunai. Sakura had a medical tool and was able to maim that person with an inoperable arm. Now, they were equal.

"Who are you?" Sakura snarled. The other person only went in for a second attack. Sakura dodged the bad attack and tried to kick them with her left foot. They blocked with their right hand and pushed off of her foot. While in the air, the attacker grabbed three shuriken in each hand and rained them down on Sakura. She back flipped out of the way of the incoming attack, and landed next to a lantern. She looked around for her wand, but only saw black. Sakura began blindly walking foreward, hoping the enemy wouldn't come in for another attack so soon.

A creak to her right automatically made her drop into a defensive stance. Silence muffled her ears. She looked to her right, and saw nothing move. She turned her head left only to see the slightly open door. She had a feeling she should try running for it. Sakura listened for a few more seconds before she took off as fast as she could to the door. She made it and slammed the door shut behind her.

Her breath was coming out in small gasps. She had never thought so much trouble could happen outside of their world. First, she found out about a man who wants to kill a teenager so he can have control over the world. Now, someone took that teenager and his best friend to who knows where. Somebody has infiltrated the school and could possibly have companions in the school, lurking in the shadows.

Sakura shivered, only know aware of how cold it was. Once her heart rate was back to normal, she slowly turned around, and backed away from the door. When nothing popped out and tried killing her, she ran down the stairs, through the common room, and out the portrait hole. Since Sakura was so preoccupied with both getting as far away from the common room as possible and finding Sasuke or Shikamaru, she didn't notice that the Fat Lady was no longer in her portrait.

* * *

'Where are they?' Sasuke was fuming. He didn't have a clue were Sakura and Naruto had disappeared to. To make matters worse, he was in the middle of fighting tons of shinobi. They appeared out of nowhere and began attacking the teachers. Seeing as most of them didn't have prior experience in fighting ninja, Sasuke was helping everyone. Dumbledore wasn't there, however, which made Sasuke nervous.

Dumbledore hadn't even shown up to dinner. Sasuke wanted to go out and look for him, but he needed to stay where he was. "How's the situation, Sasuke?"

Without turning around, he answered Shikamaru. "Lots of scared teachers and students, a couple of reckless students who tried fighting the shinobi and got hurt, and no sign of Professor Dumbledore."

Shikamru nodded. "The one who's dressed all in pink and looks like a toad, where is she?" Sasuke had forgotten all about her. Shikamaru guessed from the look on Sasuke's face what the answer was. "You forgot about her, didn't you?"

Sasuke's face held no emotion to Shikamaru's guess. Shikamaru sighed. "It only means we've got to find two people instead of one. Hopefully, she didn't do anything stupid. Like try to speak to the shinobi and get them on her side. She'll just get herself killed that way. By the way, have you seen Sakura and Naruto yet?"

Sasuke kicked the ninja he had been fighting in the chest. A few cracks and a moan followed the kick. The body fell completely limp. "Sorry, didn't quite catch what you were saying. I was sort of fighting someone." Sasuke said sarcastically.

Shikamaru sighed again. "So troublesome. I'll be back later for another report." Shikamaru ran out of the Great Hall, leaving Sasuke alone with a lot of enemies.

"Well, well, well, look who's here."

Sasuke turned around, knowing exactly who's voice it was. The red-headed freak was here. He was hoping that he wouldn't ever have to see her again, but since when do his hopes ever come true?

"You do remember me, right? If you don't, I'll be very heart-broken." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Karin, one of Orochimaru's loyal helpers. Unfortunately, she was even more loyal to Sasuke, and had a crush on him. Sasuke was tempted to squash her where she stood, but something held him back.

"Hn." Sasuke turned around and started walking to a large number of shinobi. "Wait, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and then focused on the ninja in front of him. He pulled out his katana, got into his fighting stance, smirked, and ran to the first victim.

Blood was splattered on the walls, like a painting. Bodies littered the floor, each with their own unique wounds. Sasuke had just finished with the last ninja he saw when the freak was back. "Wow, Sasuke-kun, that was amazing."

"If you have no business here, then go back to were you came from." Karin gasped. "No! I can't stand it without you around. I would rather be with you."

"Would you destroy Konoha?" Karin put on a triumphant smile. "Of course I would! All the shinobi from there are weak and need to be disposed of!"

Sasuke turned away from her and said, "That is why you can't come with me." A surprised look came onto her face. She didn't have a clue what he was talking about. The last time she had talked to him, he was completely against Konoha. What made him change his mind?

"Sasuke-kun, wh-" She looked in front of her only to see a pile of bodies.

* * *

Sakura heard a yell come from outside the Great Hall. She had been running up and down the most used corridors to find either Sasuke or Shikamaru with absolutely no luck. Until that moment, there hadn't been any sign of life.

She sprinted to the stairs going to the Great Hall. When she reached the top, she looked down to see Ginny and Luna fighting of a woman shinobi. The shinobi had the headband of Kusagakure, or Village Hidden in the Grass. She had a devilish smile on her face and almost looked like preying mantis. The way she looked ready to kill Ginny and Luna sent Sakura's adrenaline pumping.

"Looks like somone's here to save you weaklings." Sakura glared at the ninja, taking a kunai out. "Looks like she's a shinobi too. Just my luck, I was getting bored with you wizards."

"Sakura! Go help the others! We can handle her!" As if to prove her point, Ginny sent a spell, which was the stinning spell because of the red hue, which the ninja dodged with ease.

"No, you two need to get to safety! I was hired to protect you from something like this." Sakura jumped in front of them and got into a stance. Her right arm was throbbing as she tried holding up the kunai. A bit of blood spilled out of the nearly closed wound. This made the shinobi snicker.

"Looks like you had a run in with Ishiko. She's so quiet that she's like stone! But she's got her tricks, and that's her first attack point. She see's what hand the enemy uses and aims for that hand. She must have been distracted, seeing as you can still slightly use it." Suddenly, Sakura felt the cold steel of a kunai against her throat. "I'll make sure you can't use any part of you're body after this."

The edge of Sakura's mouth twitched up slightly. "I've been waiting for a good fight. But you've made one very big mistake getting close to me."

The shinobi jumped back a second too late. Sakura's trained hand flew out and sent a small needle of chakra into the ninja's arm, severing the closest muscle. The shinobi shrieked in pain, while Sakura retreated to Ginny and Luna and told them to run.

"What happened here?" Ginny quickly explained the situation. "A group of those people suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked the castle. About a hundred started attacking the teachers. The students were told to retreat to the dungeons, but it was absolute chaos. A lot of the older students stayed to help attack the intruders, even though Professor McGonagall told them to leave. Sasuke was fighting a lot of those people, that's why we weren't really surprised that you were the 'shinobi' people."

Suddenly, the Kusa ninja was in front of them. Sakura halted the other two. "That wasn't very nice. Lucky for me I know how to reverse the effect of that particular type of medical ninjutsu. Unlucky for you, I used to specialize in medical ninjutsu, therefore, I know a great deal of it."

'Great. The one thing I thought I could defeat her with is gone. Guess I've got to depend on my strength. First, I've got to get out of the castle.' Sakura thought. She then smiled.

"You never told me your name." The other ninja raised her eyebrows. "And what makes you think I'll tell you my name when I don't know yours?"

"Fair enough. Can we at least go outside?" This made the ninja laugh. "Why? This castle can crash and burn for all I care!"

To prove her point, she threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached. Sakura grit her teeth and pushed Ginny and Luna back out of the blast radius. The explosion caused debris to fly in every direction, one piece landed uncomfortable close to them.

"You think you are so high and mighty, trying to order me outside. It's sad, a child like you taking on a much more experienced and powerful opponent like me." Sakura refrained from shouting back at her.

"It didn't sound like she ordered you to go outside to me. You should also stop being so arrogant. You haven't seen all of what Sakura can do." Ginny defended Sakura, which made Sakura happy. Someone besides Naruto and Sasuke is there to defend her.

The ninja snickered. "I've seen all I've needed to see. Medical ninjas lack physical strength to fight. Oh, and thank you for this girls name. It means a lot to know my first victims name."

"Then tell me your name." Sakura didn't know why she wanted this ninjas name so bad. Unfortunately, the shinobi had other plans. "No, I think I'll wait to tell you until you're on deaths doorstep."

"Whatever." The shinobi smiled. "Let us fight, then."

* * *

Naruto was breathing heavily. The stunning spell had mostly missed him, but a fraction had hit his left side. It ached like it was on fire. It was getting slightly harder to breath, so he figured it injured his lung.

Ron was safely behind him, though probably not in the most comfortable position. Naruto tried using _ennervate_, which would wake him up if he had been stunned, but it didn't work. Naruto reckoned it was probably a spell he'd never seen before, so he didn't tamper with it anymore.

He hadn't heard Harry, or he should say the possessed form that took over Harry's body, since the spell. This made Naruto slightly panicky. What if the person who had possessed him taken him? What if he ran away, following some voice? Or, what if he was following someone talking in Parseltongue? Dumbledore had told them all about Harry being able to speak it because of Voldemort. What if Voldemort was calling him to his death?

Naruto jumped up, ignoring all the pain in his side. He almost started running when he remember there was an unconscious Ron on the ground. Naruto thought for a moment before grabbing Ron and putting him on his shoulder. He jumped up and found a very large, extremely firm spot in the trees. He laid Ron down and jumped back down.

He looked around for a second, to find Harry's footprints. There weren't any where Naruto was, which only made him more nervous. He searched some more, and only saw a scorch mark near where Naruto was hiding, which he concluded was from the stunning spell.

A small coughing fit came over Naruto. His left side felt like it was about to burst open. Naruto wanted to just rip it off to stop the pain. Once the coughing was mostly over, he clutched his side and went to the nearest tree. He was going to rest a minute, just to make sure he can breath normally again.

His ragged breath was the only sound in the dark forest. Not even a cricket was chirping. Naruto didn't realize this small fact, since his breathing was so loud.

_"I thought for sure I had stunned you, Naruto. Unfortunately, my killing curse didn't come out as fast, so you dodged that one." _Naruto felt sick to his stomach as he heard the emotionless voice pound in his head. _"I guess hitting you're side has done quite the damage, though. It looks like you're lung is pretty banged up. Must be hard to breath."_

Suddenly, Naruto had to gasp for air. He was breathing almost normally, but then it was like all the oxygen was pulled out of the air and stored in a little box. Even with all the gulps of air he took, it never seemed to be enough. Slowly, his vision was blackening, scaring him even more. He was about to pass out when the deadly voice penetrated the air one last time.

_"She's next."  


* * *

_

Well, that was fun. In case you guys didn't know why Naruto suddenly couldn't breath, his lung collapsed. I just came up with that, just like this whole chapter. Once again, sorry for the long wait. The next chapter will be up before the end of December, you can count on that. I'm really staring to get into this story. I already have ideas for a sequel!

OK, enough rambling. Hope you liked the eleventh chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Right, I like where this story is going, so this chapter'll hopefully be pretty good. There's a longer note at the bottem.

* * *

Chapter 12

Shikamaru sighed. He had wished the fight had been more interesting. Mostly, it was only weak newbies that attacked. There were a few stronger ninjas, but they were still too easy. Sasuke was sitting next to him, but was much more interested in finding out where Sakura and Naruto were. They still hadn't shown up, and had been gone for over two hours. This worried him. Shikamaru sensed his uneasiness.

"Don't worry. They've done this before. At least, right after you got away the last time, they weren't seen for four days. The rumor was they had gone to Naruto's house and just laid on his bed without talking." Instantly, Sasuke felt guilt clouding his already clouded judgement. Shikamaru kept going anyway. "When they came out of their mini depression, they seemed semi-normal. Besides the fact that they only wanted the hardest missions. They'd get an A-rank that would take a week, and get it done in three days. They had changed."

Sasuke felt a bucket of guilt cascade over his head. But, instead of leaving, like water would, it stayed and sunk in. He almost felt like crying, now knowing how much pain he had really caused them. Though he would never say this out loud, they really had grown on him.

A crash from outside brought them both out of their daydreams. They jumped up and peered out of the window. There was a bright red light that shot forward in a straight, narrow line. They instantly recognized it as a spell. There was still a fight going on while they sat there, daydreaming. Sasuke suddenly notices a flash of bright pink hair from the fight. Within seconds, he is flying down the stairs.

Shikamaru went after him, but at a much slower pace. He noticed four different people. One was obviously Sakura, and one was obviously the enemy. But that must mean that the other two were students. To make matters worse, the two students were on the ground, not moving. Sakura seemed to be moving quite slowly as well.

All of the sudden, Shikamaru wanted to go faster. His mind was on overdrive as he raced down the stairs and out the door. He thought of all the possible reasons she would be moving slower and why the students were obviously unconscious.

The obvious was the enemy was overpowering Sakura and had maimed the students so there wasn't any interruptions. That also meant they must have been going at it for a while.

Shikamaru got outside and quickly made his why to the commotion. Sasuke had caught up to the fight long before Shikamaru did. Shikamaru noticed Sasuke had taken the fight into his hands and out of Sakura's. She was checking over the two students. He made his way over to her.

"Will they be alright?" Shikamaru recognized them as Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Sakura nodded. That caused some of the worry to leave him. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded slightly on the quick side. Shikamaru checked over her. He didn't see anything to horrible, besides the obvious lack of chakra. There were slashes here and there from the enemies katana. Shikamaru looked over to see two katanas collide, creating the known metal crash. Sasuke jumped back first, before plowing in for another blow. Once again, the enemy blocked him.

"You must have had quite the fight." Shikamaru had noted how much the earth had been scratched up. Sakura sort of shrugged. "I guess so."

She turned back to her work. Shikamaru then looked down at Ginny and Luna. They didn't seem to badly beaten up. Then, Sakura turned Ginny on her chest, so her back was up.

There was a burn mark that was swelling rapidly. A deep cut was in the center of the burn. Shikamaru felt sick to his stomach as a small amount of puss oozing from one side of the burn.

"Can you help her?" Shikamaru asked with a slightly disgusted voice. Sakura instantly noticed Shikamaru's discomfort. "Hopefully, I can repair the damaged tissue. Otherwise, she'll have one huge scar to live with."

Shikamaru gave a shaky laugh. Sakura got to work, making Ginny's back and the surrounding ground glow a light green. Shikamaru looked away and looked over at Sasuke's fight.

Sasuke was doing a good job to not get completely black and blue. The other ninja wasn't happy that she couldn't fight Sakura. She said she wanted to "wipe the pretty girls face of the planet". Sasuke kept the shinobi interested with him, so Sakura could rest and take care of the others.

Sasuke hadn't thought of the fact that Naruto wasn't there. He just wanted to dispose of the enemy once and for all. That was, until he saw something falling from the sky. His eyes darted back to the shinobi. He grabbed three kunai and a smoke bomb. He threw the kunai and while she was preoccupied with the oncoming attack, he tossed the smoke bomb.

He sprinted for the slow falling object that seemed to be slightly speeding up. He ran over to it, making sure the smoke bomb was still working. The closer he got to the falling object, the more suspicious he was.

That's when he saw the color. It was orange, with black lining the top. Sasuke's heart slowed, hoping it really wasn't a piece of Naruto's clothing. It fell into his hands, but it was wet. Turning it over, he saw the deep red liquid that could only be blood. Sasuke turned back around at the sound of a shriek.

The shinobi hadn't realized that it was a poison smoke bomb. Of course, neither did Sasuke. He thought it was a normal smoke bomb, but it ended his job faster, so he was happy. The shinobi dropped to the ground, her breathing becoming rigid.

"Come here." A weak voice came from the fallen shinobi. Sakura wasn't sure if she was talking to her until the ninja's hand beckoned to her. Sakura slowly walked over to her side, not sure if an attack was coming. When she sat and saw no kunai whipped out, she slightly calmed down. "My name... is Leiko. You deserve to know it."

Sakura was somewhat confused until she remembered the shinobi's plan to only tell her name when Sakura was on her deathbed. Unfortunately for Leiko, she was telling Sakura as she was dieing.

Sakura nodded. Something that was almost like a smile came over Leiko's face as her eyes closed for the last time.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, come over here now!" Sasuke screamed over. The two summoned shinobi jumped up and ran over. Sasuke was still staring at the blood stained scrap of clothing. Sakura beat Shikamaru to the question.

"What is that?" Sasuke looked up with an odd look on his face. Shikamaru walked closer and took a better look at it. After about four seconds, he figured it out.

"We need to go out now. It looks like he's hurt pretty bad." Sasuke nodded. At this, Sakura was even more confused. She didn't know who this guy they were talking about was.

"Are you up to going after all your fights?" Sasuke nodded. "I wasn't hurt in any of them. My chakra levels are good too. Now, we have to get moving if we want to catch up with him."

"Right. That would be a good idea. Sakura, can you bring Ginny and Luna to the hospital wing and take care of them while we're getting him?" The two guys stared at her. She was still completely in the dark.

"Who are you going after? What does that piece of cloth have to do with anything?" The two guys looked at her stupidly. "You mean you haven't figured it out?"

Sakura shook her head. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, as if signaling him to start talking. "Well, you see, the cloth looks like a part of clothing, right? Well, it is also black and orange. There is also blood on it. Have you figured it out yet?"

Sakura put two and two together. Her eyes grew and she gasped. "We need to go now! Shikamaru, can you bring Ginny and Luna to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfery take care of Ginny's back?! Thanks!"

She started running full speed to the Forbidden Forest. She stopped when she noticed Sasuke wasn't behind her. Her head whipped around to see him in the same spot he was in before. "What are you doing?!?! We need to get moving!!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Go. I'll take care of the other two."

Sasuke nodded and ran after Sakura, who had already begun running again. Shikamaru sighed again. "So troublesome."

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were speeding along as fast as they possibly could. Sakura could only picture all the gruesome things that might have happened to Naruto. If only she had followed him anyway...

Sasuke was only thinking of the fact that he didn't feel like finding his best friend on the brink of death for the...fourth or fifth time in a row. It always seemed to scare him the more times it happened. He didn't want to become an avenger again.

"What do you think happened to him?" Sakura called out. Sasuke was hoping to avoid this question, so he acted like they were going too fast to hear her. "Sasuke? WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO NARUTO?"

Now, he couldn't ignore that. It would be too obvious he was avoiding it. "I don't know."

She didn't question him further. It was silent, except for the wind in their ears. Then, Sakura's voice rang out, sounding like she was on the brink of tears. "Maybe he got in a fight, and obviously got hurt. Maybe they captured him and are torturing him. Maybe they want us too, so they let us know he was hurt."

Sasuke's heart bled more for his friend. If what Sakura said was all just true, then they needed to hurry up. Sasuke pushed more chakra to the soles of his feet. Sakura, seeing Sasuke speed up considerably, did the same.

After about ten more minutes of running, they realized they were running in the forest blindly with no idea of where to go. They stopped for a quick rest, and for a brainstorming of what to do.

"We don't have a clue where we're going, do we?" Sasuke shook his head. "Then what do we do? I summon slugs and you summon snakes. Neither of them is meant for tracking. Now, if only Kakashi-sensai were here, since he's got the ability to summon ninja hounds."

Sasuke then jumped on the nearest tree to look from the top. He climbed before he found a nice little spot where there was a nice, thick branch. He climbed out onto it, ready to jump to the next branch when he saw a mass to his right. He slouched down and got a kunai ready. He tip-toed over to the mass and saw flaming red. It was Ron.

"Sasuke! I found signs of a battle down here!" Sasuke went over to Ron and picked him up. He then jumped down and went over to Sakura. "And I found a person."

Sakura spun around. "Is it-oh, it's only Ron." Sasuke bent down and laid the boy on the ground. Sakura dropped to her knees rather reluctantly. She scanned the redhead over and assessed there was nothing physically wrong with him. "He's knocked out, but with a more advanced spell than the stunning spell. I would only feel safe if I gave him over to Madam Pomfery, but we have to get Naruto, so he'll have to wait."

"No, Sakura. Bring Ron back to the school and I'll get Naruto." Sakura had a look like 'Are you insane?' Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I know, he's you're best friend. He's mine too, but we need you to take care of Ron. He could have some sort of poisoning spell on him that will eventually kill him for all we know."

Sakura woke up slightly after that little speech. "But-" "If you don't go right now, I'll be forced to use the Sharingan on you, wasting more time that I could be using on finding Naruto. I'd have to bring you all the way back to the school, along with Ron. Do you really want to waste more time?"

Sakura looked at her feet. "Find him. Please, find him." She then handed him a small kit. "There is the most used things in there, like bandages and gauze. If he's hurt very bad, just wrap him up and carefully bring him to me."

"I'll get him." At that, Sasuke left, leaving a falling trail of leaves behind. Sakura shut her eyes tightly and reopened them. "OK. Ron, you better not have some rare poison spell on you, or you're dead. Literally."

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting next to the gargoyle leading into Dumbledore's office. He wasn't completely sure when Dumbledore would be back, but he still sat there. Madam Pomfery said Ginny and Luna would be alright. Ginny would have to stay for a while so her back wound could heal completely. Luna would be alright, since the blast that hit Ginny only just touched her.

Madam Pomfery kicked Shikamaru out, which he didn't mind. On his way to Dumbledore's office, he saw toad Umbridge, much to his disappointment. He had hoped wherever she had disappeared to would have killed her, but instead, she looked happy and excited, which didn't suit her.

All of the sudden, he saw **it** coming. Umbridge was walking towards Dumbledore's office, Fudge in tow. Shikamaru stood, not wanting Umbridge to suddenly lash out at him for sitting and getting his robes dirty.

"Who's that?" Fudge asked. Umbridge glanced at Shikamaru and made a face. "Oh, it's just one of those foreign exchange scum Dumbledore let come here."

"Hmmm, once you are completely sworn as the new headmistress, you can make them go back to where they came from." Umbridge smiled, making Shikamaru shiver. "Oh, no. I do believe they should stay. They are such **good** students."

Shikamaru knew immediately that Umbridge was going to do something bad. And since when was the toad the new headmistress? Shikamaru took this new information and started on his way away from them.

"I never said you could leave." Shikamaru stopped in his tracks and turned around. Umbridge had that evil smirk on her face. He went back to where he was in the first place.

"Good. Open the gargoyle, please." Shikamaru stood there for a second before responding. "I don't know what the password is. That's why I was waiting outside of it."

Umbridge looked like she might strangle him. "Well then, you have to be properly punished. Go to my quarters and wait for my arrival."

Shikamaru nodded and went on his way. He was dreading it more and more with each step. By the time he got to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, it was dusk. He sighed, said his trademark line and went up to her room. The second he entered, the urge to run away increased ten-fold.

It was pink. There wasn't any other way to describe it besides pink. Everything in sight was pink and lacy. He almost gagged as he sat down on the equally pink chair. At least it was a semi-comfortable chair. He turned his head to get a better view of the room and jumped up.

Tons of little cat faces and eyes were staring back at him. A chorus of various meows emitted from the little plates that held the cats. Once he got himself together, he took a seat.

Quiet would have engulfed the room if it wasn't for all the meows coming from behind him. "So troublesome."

Finally, after an eternity, Umbridge came in. She was very jostled and didn't take notice of Shikamaru. She went to the back of her room and started playing with some teacups. Shikamaru almost stood up and tip-toed out, but she turned around and smiled.

"Glad to see you came. Otherwise, I would have been forced to punish you further. I hate hurting children, you know." Shikamaru almost burst out laughing. He hadn't forgotten about Naruto's hand.

The second they could, Sasuke and Sakura showed him Naruto's hand. Naruto didn't really want anyone to know, but he agreed that Shikamaru should know. He was the brains of this mission after all.

"Now, would you like some tea?" Shikamaru almost rolled his eyes at how obvious she was being. "Of course, I would love some."

She handed Shikamaru the teacup and then took one for herself. "Drink it up, before it gets cold." Shikamaru nodded and pressed it to his mouth. Once he was sure he didn't taste any tea, he lowered it.

"Very good. Now, I was wondering if you knew where Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger went off to." He put on his thinking face. "I have no idea, I wasn't even aware they left."

Umbridge smiled her sickly smile. "Really? Drink some more, honey, I think you might be thirsty and it's messing up your logical thinking." Shikamaru pressed it to his lips again, but let some into his mouth and swallowed. He lowered the teacup again.

"Very good. Has your answer changed at all?" Shikamaru shook his head. "Well, alright then. Do you know where you're three friends are?" Shikamaru felt whatever was in his system attempt to come forth, but the stuff he just injected himself with stopped it. He had injected himself in one of the seconds she blinked.

"No. I've been wondering where they went to, but I haven't seen them in hours." Umbridge frowned. "You should drink the rest."

He did exactly what she said. He took the teacup and downed the rest of it. He showed her the empty cup when she asked to see it. She smiled in truth this time, thinking it really will work. "Where are your friends?" "I have no idea."

She stood up ad went over to slap him when the door burst open and in came Professor McGonagall. "How dare you? What right do you think you have!?"

"Please leave, dear. I need to talk to Professor McGonagall." Shikamaru stood and left. He made his chakra disappear, just in case she had some way of knowing he was still there, and leaned up against the door. He was listening in on the conversation.

"-no possible way I will ever see you as the Headmistress! I want to know exactly why you are the Headmistress when I saw Dumbledore this morning!" There was a small pause before Umbridge spoke.

"Fudge saw it fit that Dumbledore step aside. You know how old he is. Dumbledore wholeheartedly agreed with it, knowing he was a tad bit too old for the job. Especially since he let a few half-breeds in as teachers." Professor McGonagall exploded.

"PROFESSOR HAGRID AND PROFESSOR LUPIN MAY BE HALF-BREEDS, BUT THEY MAKE UP WHAT YOU DON'T POSSESS, LIKE KINDNESS AND UNDERSTANDING! PROFESSOR HAGRID IS AN AMAZING TEACHER AND PROFESSOR LUPIN TAUGHT OUR STUDENTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEACHER IN THIS SCHOOL! ALBUS IS NOT TOO OLD FOR THIS JOB! YOU DID SOMETHING TO HIM, AND I WILL FIND HIM AND SAVE HIM FROM YOU PEOPLE!" Shikamaru flew down the stairs to avoid questions.

He kept running until he was on the seventh floor. He went to the closest wall and slid down it. His right leg was still bent, so he laid his arm on that knee.

His mind was flooded with ideas, and he needed to figure out exactly what happened from what knowledge he had. It could be a while.

* * *

Sasuke was going merely on the few marks that littered the forest. An occasional blood smear here, a broken branch there. But, it was the best he had. Until he met an obstacle.

There was a trail going the same way he came from, a trail to the right, and a trail to the left. He stared at each path and found nothing different about them.

He picked a random one and went to the left. He was going as fast as he could until he heard a blast. It was coming from the middle path. He hoped onto one of the trees and looked that way. He saw a pillar of smoke that was getting blown away.

'Why do I have a good feeling about that path?' He took off through the woods, his memory as his only guide. That was when he saw them. Paper bombs were everywhere. It was practically a death trap. He had stopped only seconds before a bomb. He looked over to where the blast had come from and saw the smoldering remains of what could have been a centaur. The tracks leading to the tree confirmed that suspicion.

"Perfect." Sasuke voiced out-loud. He turned around to go back. This time, he was more careful with where he jumped. He narrowly missed one hidden by a tree branch. Another blast voiced itself behind him. That made him go faster, since there was another and another directly after the first. That was when he realized the blasts were causing a chain-reaction. His adrenaline began pumping insanely hard and he took off.

He was still going, even when he was out of range. When he stopped, there was an enormous explosion from where he was not fifteen seconds ago. His head was pounding from all the noise.

He jumped back on his original trail and went full speed ahead. There didn't seem to be any traps, which slightly paranoid Sasuke, but slightly calmed him at the same time. It could be that this is the correct path and the captor thought they killed him in the paper bomb field, or it could be that they were biding their time, making Sasuke think this was the correct path only to have some huge trap.

That's when a sign came. There was a small clash of metal ahead of Sasuke. He got as close as he dared and looked through the branches.

The first thing he saw was blood and weapons. He stood and got a better view. There were about a dozen men lying in pools of blood, with various, traumatizing wounds. He looked away from the carved up people to see Naruto on the ground in his own pool of blood, though it was considerably smaller than the other ones.

Seeing that almost caused Sasuke to jump down that second. He stopped himself when he heard a battle call. "AHHHHHHH!"

"Is this all you've got? That's pathetic. Especially since Lord Voldemort wants to kill you so much. Of course, in less than a second, I could repossess you. Then you can lose all the stupid fantasies of killing me and saving that loser over there." An incredibly familiar voice hit Sasuke. He knew that voice. He had heard it somewhere. But where had he heard it?

"Shut up! If you're supposed to be a wizard, why can you do those weird hand sign things?" Sasuke jumped down. Since when was a wizard also a ninja?

He looked and saw Harry. He looked over at the other person and felt light-headed. It was Evelyn. The girl he had met who was in Hufflepuff. The girl with the beautiful ringlets and cute, round face. She was a monster.

Her clothes were torn and her hair was crazy. She had a kunai out and was poised for an attack. She didn't expect to see Sasuke, though. Her cover almost slipped, but she grabbed onto it just in time. "Sasuke, what a pleasant surprise." So much for her being a cute girl.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke turned to see Harry, robes torn and dirty. His hand was bleeding freely, the blood dripping onto the ground. "I'm here because I was looking for Naruto, but I guess I found you too."

He turned his attention back to Evelyn. "I wasn't aware you were with Voldemort this whole time. How much have you told him about me?" She sneered. "Actually, He already knows a lot from Michio. Michio is one of his most faithful servants. He brought in a whole new force, that can do the things I can do. I actually am the only person I know that can do it."

Sasuke pulled out a kunai. He noticed in Harry's uninjured hand, there was a kunai. He guessed Evelyn had been feeling generous and decided to play with her prey instead of killing it right off the bat.

"Harry, stay back. I can handle her." Harry looked at him, ready to protest. "Harry, I'm supposed to protect you and she is way out of you're league. Stay back."

Harry really wanted to help fight, but he listened. He went back near a tree and sat. He glanced over at all the dead bodies littering the forest floor, and quickly looked away. That only lead him to see Naruto. His chest rose and fell in irregular ways. He wanted nothing more to go over and help him, but he didn't know how to.

Harry stood and walked over to Naruto's side. He sat down and just stared at Naruto, not realizing just how much pain was radiating through Naruto at that second. The pain was not physical pain. His mind was replaying all the worst moments in his life, and he couldn't control it.

* * *

Phew! I'm so glad that's done. I said I'd get it out before Christmas!! This is a Christmas special, seeing as it's so long. I might get the next chapter up soon, but there's no guarantees.

Ok. Leiko means "arrogant", so i thought that suited her. She does think she can beat them easily, but she can't. Sakura is going to figure out just how weak she really is. I mean, if Sasuke can beat her in a few minutes, I'd think she was weak too. Then again, she did have to protect Ginny and Luna.

Sorry! I'm rambling! Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas, Joyeux Noel, or any other way you say Merry Christmas! Happy holidays!


	13. Chapter 13

Enjoy this...interesting...chapter. Or at least try to enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 13

If you were to read somebody's mind at that exact second, you wouldn't have wanted to read Naruto's mind. The certain memories that were flying through his mind weren't desirable.

At that second, his mind was replaying when he was four. He was staying at the third Hokage's house until he could live on his own. He was wandering around the village, even though Hokage-jiji told him he couldn't unless he was with Naruto, but since when did Naruto ever listen?

He walked past an alley with a dark and deceiving end. The moon wasn't out tonight, but Naruto had never been afraid of the dark. Until tonight.

He held his head high, looking for something to do. He turned a corner to where he vaguely remembered Hokage-jiji telling him was 'the bad place'. But, four year-old minds don't tend to listen to those type of things, do they?

There was light pouring out of various places on the street. Naruto wasn't aware that all those buildings were actually bars, and at 9:30 at night, most of the people in these bars were already on there seventh or eighth bottle of sake. Naruto kept walking until he saw a really cool sign in front of one bar. It had three ninjas with bubbles all around their heads pointing and laughing at a guy who was getting slapped by a chick. Naruto still couldn't read, and didn't really understand it, but he thought the bubbles were really cool.

He stood there a bit to long. A group consisting of four guys and two girls came out. They were all as drunk as skunks. Naruto felt fear suddenly poise it's head inside of him. He had a feeling to run away, but he couldn't. One guy, who had the standard Chunin outfit on and short, brown hair, looked down at him.

"Well, look who it is!" He said in a drunken slur. "The village hero!" The other five burst out laughing. Naruto didn't understand why he was being called 'The village hero' all of the sudden.

"Ha! As if! He's more like the village killer! We should just dispose of him once and for all!" One of the women with short blond hair suggested. The others all agreed. Naruto felt the fear increase ten-fold. They wanted to kill him? Why?!

"Let's get the little demon!" A chorus of drunken battle cries sounded out from them. They began their running. Naruto's legs felt like lead. He couldn't move. They had sadistic expressions on their faces, which suddenly made Naruto move.

He took off, running as fast as he possibly could. Unfortunately, that wasn't fast enough. They caught up and circled him. His vision began to blur as the fear got stronger. Tears spilled from his deep blue eyes. "W-what are y-you doing?"

They looked at him, their expressions freaking Naruto out even more. His eyes grew as they began to close their distance. Before Naruto knew it, they were hurting him.

First, it was a simple kick to get him on the ground. Then, there were punches and more kicks. He hadn't ever felt so much pain at one time. His body was so small that every new pain inflicted went through his whole body. His eyes hurt from his uncontrollable sobbing. Then, came the unmistakable feeling of a kunai hitting his flesh.

Naruto screamed out from the pain. They had hit his lower thigh, but had almost cut part of his flesh clean off. They hit a few veins that squirted the crimson liquid out of his body. It flew all over the ground and the closest attackers. They grabbed his arms and pulled them out behind his head, making him turn onto his back.

They left the kunai in his leg, so when they did this torturous action, it ground against his other leg. It cut through the remaining skin holding that flesh to his thigh. The flesh fell with a slight bounce. He cried out in pain, feeling a large amount of tears flowing from his eyes. Naruto dared to look at his leg, but another, equally painful hit took his mind off of that wound. This time, it was in both arms.

There were two katanas protruding from his arms. They were keeping his arms out of the way and stopping him from trying to stop them. They looked evilly at the rest of the body they planed to shred up. The man with the short brown hair eyed his chest area. He pulled out another kunai and cut his white shirt right off.

Because Naruto was getting hurt, the Kyuubi unconsciously began to heal his wounds. The chakra that ran through his body from the healing made the seal appear on his chest. The man eyed the seal and suddenly got an idea. He smiled, causing the rest of them to understand he had an idea. The man pulled the arm with the kunai to his seal and started to outline the seal.

Naruto's screams pierced the night. The few people that heard it ignored it, except one person. Naruto was shaking uncontrollably, which caused the tracing to be more sloppy than a normal drunken sloppiness would be. Suddenly, a line of red flew from the seal, burning the mans hand. He yelled out in pain. This caused them to falter for a second before becoming more angry with the jinchuuriki.

One of the attackers jumped down and plowed a kunai into his chest. Naruto felt it enter his body, tearing through what little muscle there was and falling just short of a vital organ. Another scream came from him. Someone else pounced down and slammed a punch onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He couldn't breath.

"I order you all to stop right now!" A voice came from behind Naruto. He was still trying to get his breath back, so he didn't take any notice of his savoir. The six ninja, however, backed right off. Sarutobi Hiruzen, or the third Hokage, had seen what the shinobi had done to Naruto. They all suddenly became sober.

"H-Hokage-sama!" They all bowed. The deathly glare never left the Hokage. He walked over to them and pulled off all of their hitai-ites. They looked down at the ground and said nothing. "All of you are being ripped of you're shinobi title! You will all be questioned and punished for hurting an innocent child that hasn't done anything to you!"

Six Anbu came out of nowhere and seized them. Within seconds, they were gone. Sarutobi sighed before hurrying over to Naruto. When he looked at the broken boy, he felt his heart beginning to break. A small tear fell from his left eye at the sight.

Naruto was on the verge of unconsciousness. Everything was swimming in his vision. He felt pain leaving his body and welcomed the darkness. Just before darkness completely take over, he saw Hokage-jiji. A small drop of water hit his face. Then, darkness became his friend.

* * *

Sasuke took another swing at Evelyn, but her good reflexes were faster than Sasuke. He had activated the Sharingan, but he was still having a bit of trouble. Evelyn was good, but lacked ninjutsu training. She mostly had simple ones you'd find in any scroll. There was one that was causing Sasuke the most trouble.

"Ninpou: Sudden Darkness Jutsu!" Everything within a 15 meter dome was black. Sasuke's Sharingan couldn't even see through the darkness. He began running left, hoping to get out of the infinite dark. He hit a barrier and flew back a few feet. He felt his body go numb for five seconds.

"Sasuke, you really aren't that bright! You should never try running from the dark! You of all people should know that!" His heart panged at the memories of when he was only concentrated on revenge. They were quickly dispersed when he heard the unmistakable sound of a flying kunai. He back flipped out of the way, falling just short of the barrier.

"Aw, how sad. If you had hit the barrier again, you would've been numb for ten seconds! Then, I could've killed you in a second." Her voice was getting higher and more girl like by the second. Sasuke closed his eyes and listened with all of his might.

He heard a kunai with his left ear. It sounded like it was aimed for his neck. He ducked to the ground as it flew over him and hit the barrier. He stood up and took eight steps forward. Suddenly, the darkness disappeared.

His eyes flew open and then narrowed from the difference in light. He saw Evelyn glare slightly, knowing she was upset her jutsu didn't last long. He inwardly smirked before getting down in a defensive stance.

"Hmph, pathetic. You aren't going to attack me when I just gave you a great opening?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you quite talking and attack me?" Evelyn's eyes narrowed slightly. "Fine."

She ran at him, faster than he expected, and got her kunai ready. She tried to slam it into Sasuke, but Sasuke blocked it at the last second. She had another plan. She used her other hand and punched Sasuke in the chest. He grunted, since she could throw a pretty good punch. He took that punch as a sign to really start attacking.

He jumped back and sheathed katana. Then, his hands flew to the required signs. "Chidori!"

A small noise grew louder and louder from his hand. Blue chakra appeared and the noise sounded like thousands of birds. Evelyn stared at the oncoming attack in awe. She never knew you could make such a cool jutsu. Sasuke ran at her and she jumped and landed on a tree branch above her.

Sasuke then jumped up and tried to hit her, but she vanished. The chidori vanished, since he didn't pick up Evelyn's chakra anywhere. He let himself land on his feet on the ground. He looked around and saw something white on the branch that Evelyn landed on. He jumped up there and took the paper. He opened it.

_I just want you to know that we will be back. We're gathering forces and we will destroy Hogwarts. Then, were going to your Shinobi world and destroying it as well. I hope you can't wait to fight all of you're old buddies again, like me and Michio. _

The paper was crushed in Sasuke's hand as he held back anger. He jumped from the branch and forcefully shoved the paper into his pocket. Then, he made his way to his hurt teammate and friend. Harry looked up at Sasuke and looked down instantly.

'He'll blame me.' Harry thought, 'I really won't blame him if he wanted to kill me.' Sasuke squatted down and looked at Naruto's wounds. He noted his ragged breathing. Sasuke grabbed the small medical kit and pulled some bandages from it. He ripped off what was left of Naruto's jacket and shirt. Sasuke grabbed some water and cleaned the wound the best he could. Naruto squirmed a bit, but mostly stayed still.

"Can you pick his back off the ground?" Harry looked up at Sasuke, confusion written all over his face. "I need to bandage him up and I don't have a million hands."

Harry nodded and did as he was asked. A few minutes passed with the only sound of Sasuke wrapping the bandages around Naruto. Harry silently wished he could take back everything he did. He then thought of how this whole thing began.

_Flashback_

_The Golden Trio were walking out on the grounds. It was slightly chilly, since it was nearly winter. They were mostly talking about the three 'other ones' as they called them._

_Harry was being pretty quite, since he still didn't approve of them protecting him. Ron and Hermione saw this and immediately changed the subject. They started talking about the horrible toad they were forced to call their D.A.D.A. teacher. That led Hermione to an idea._

_"We need a teacher. A real teacher. Someone who can truly teach us to defend ourselves." She left it there before nudging Ron. "Ow! Oh, right. Yeah, we need someone who can help us, since the toad's not teaching us crap."_

_Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry just nodded. "We mean you, Harry." Harry stopped in his tracks. _

_"Um, me what?" Hermione rolled her eyes again while Ron murmured, "Told you he wouldn't want to." _

_"We want you to teach us how to defend ourselves." Harry stared at them like they just sprouted extra heads. "I'm not that good at it. You're loads better, Hermione."_

_She sighed. "No, Harry, you always get better grades than me in Defense Against the Dark Arts. All I do is look at books. You really are the best person. Plus, you've fought against you-know-who more times than any other person out there! You've got experience!" Harry shook his head. "Most of that was luck. If others hadn't helped me, I wouldn't have been able to do it!"_

_"Harry-" Hermione was cut of by something silver flying past them and landing in a tree trunk. She shrieked and held onto Ron's arm. They all looked towards the forest and gulped when they saw a shape coming closer. The air seemed to chill slightly. _

_"Target found." Harry suddenly collapsed, gripping his head like something was invading. He began screaming. Hermione's and Ron's eyes grew large at the sight. Harry stopped screaming and slowly stood up. His head was still down as he fully stood. Then his head was lifted._

_Hermione and Ron backed away. Harry's eyes were just like Voldemort's and his skin was pale white. They attempted running away, but both were hit by some sort of spell that knocked them out. The person who had come out of the forest was Evelyn and she looked at the two she had just hit. The boy wasn't good enough for her plan. So she chose the girl._

_Suddenly, Evelyn was Hermione. She had used a simple transformation jutsu to make herself look exactly like Hermione. "Harry, I want you to take you're redheaded friend and go into the forest. Go in a hundred feet and make signs of a battle. Then, go in another hundred feet or so and wait for the shinobi. Attack without mercy."_

_The possessed Harry nodded without question. He left quickly and Evelyn left for her plan._

_End Flashback_

Harry's eyes were downcast the entire way back to the castle. Sasuke realized this, but he didn't question him. Sasuke guessed what it was. He was pretty close to the truth, but there was so much more to it than just feeling bad about hurting Naruto.

"I'm not going to hold a grudge. I understand you didn't mean to do it. I've done things without meaning to before too." Harry was looking at Sasuke, his eyes wide in surprise. The sides of Sasuke's mouth almost twitched into a smile, but he held himself back. "There are some things I really wish I could take back. Most of those things were things I did to Naruto."

Sasuke didn't go into more detail. Harry understood what he was getting at. Naruto obviously forgave Sasuke, even when he did some horrible things. Sasuke is taking after Naruto and forgiving Harry because what he did might not have been as bad as what Sasuke did. That led him to wonder exactly what Sasuke did.

The castle came into view, with its high-reaching towers, sparkling windows, and grand entrance. The two conscious and one unconscious persons were heading to the grand entrance at quick speeds.

When they entered the building, they were surprised to find a mob of students making their way into the Great Hall, almost everyone with a upset look on their faces. A few people looked over at hem with bewildered look on their faces. Who wouldn't be surprised to see one of the Japanese students with different clothes, a sword on his waist, one of the other Japanese students on his back without a shirt on, but heavily bandaged, and Harry Potter standing next to him, looking equally as dirty as the other two?

A sparse amount whispered to their friends about their discovery. It soon spread throughout most of the mob. Those in Slytherin sneered and laughed at the scene. Harry bluntly ignored them.

"Let's go." Harry looked and saw most of the mob gone, with only a few late people remaining. They tackled the multitude of stairs to make it up to the Hospital Wing. When they opened the door, they saw Sakura run up to Sasuke and grab Naruto off of his back. Madam Pomfery tut-tutted all the way over to Sasuke and Harry.

"There have been way too many injuries today! What a day to have the school attacked! And to make matters worse, Professor Umbridge is the new Headmistress!" Both Harry and Sasuke yelled 'What?!' at the same moment. Madam Pomfery just nudged them over to separate beds and pushed them down.

"That's what the school assembly was all about. They were told to head down to the Great Hall. The teachers are supposed to be there as well, but how many do you really think would want to go? I have the excuse of having sick children up here, so I can't go." Sasuke gritted his teeth as Madam Pomfery closed up a few of his wounds.

She then headed over to Harry, who was still contemplating the truth that the toad is taking Dumbledore's place. The school is going to go into total chaos! "OW!"

"Then don't move around!" Madam Pomfery seemed to be in a pretty bad mood from the news of Umbridge. She was more harsh than normal. Especially with the poking.

Sasuke left his bed and went over to Sakura, who was busy checking Naruto. He looked at Sakura, whose brow was creased in concentration. He decided not to ask, and he just watched. She went all around Naruto's body, assessing whether or not his wounds were fatal.

"I do believe I told you to sit on the bed, Mr. Uchiha!" Sasuke turned around and looked at Madam Pomfery, who had a very annoyed look on her face. "Sorry, but I'm making sure my friend is alright." He turned back around, which annoyed Madam Pomfery further, but she didn't say anymore. From what Sasuke said, Harry suddenly jumped up and went over to Ron.

"Mr. Potter! You are injured, therefore, you need to sit back down!" Harry ignored her words, which wasn't very smart. The next thing he knew, he was back on the bed. "You will not move until I tell you otherwise!"

Harry looked around the rest of the Hospital Wing, looking at the occupied beds. He saw Luna to the right a couple of beds. Next to Luna was Ginny, but she was on her stomach, which completely confused him. On the other side he saw Ron and across from him was Naruto, still being fretfully checked over. But, there was someone missing from this charade.

"Hermione!" He said out loud, getting him looks of confusion. Sasuke went back over to him. "What about Hermione?"

"I'm pretty sure she was knocked out with that spell just like Ron, but I was possessed by then, so I'm not completely sure. But if she was, where is she?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He stood up and went over to Sakura to whisper something in her ear.

"I'm going back out there to find Hermione." She gave him a crazy look. "Are you nuts? You just got back after fighting numerous fights, your chakra must be nearly depleted. You need to stay here and rest!"

Sasuke shook his head and started towards the door. Sakura got her wand out and cast a spell on the door. Sasuke didn't hear it, so when he attempted to open the door, he was flung backwards. "What did you do to the door?"

Sakura smirked. "You won't be leaving until your chakra levels are back to normal. Eat the food Madam Pomfery will get you and sleep. Then, when I finish treating Naruto and your chakra levels are better, we can go. Naruto tried going out by himself. Do you see what happened to him?"

Sasuke stared at Sakura for a minute before heading back to his bed. "Good. Now sle-" She was cut off by the sound of breaking glass. She whipped around to see a broken window. "Damn it!"

She looked back at Naruto. She knew none of his wounds were fatal, so she looked over to Madam Pomfery. "Madam Pomfery, I have to go, so do you think you could-" "I will, just go." "Thank you!"

Sakura ran over to the now broken window and jumped out of it. When she landed, she looked back up and repaired it with her wand. Then, she turned around and ran for the forest, having just seen a flash of blue.

* * *

The gloominess of the night was surrounding the house. Four people were sitting nest to a fireplace inside, talking quite intently. One, who was pale white, bald, had an aura of complete darkness surrounding him, and had slits for a nose was smirking at the new information he just received.

"Good. Harry Potter will come quickly this time." Voldemort smirked even more. Two of the others smirked along with him. The last one seemed slightly apprehensive of the current situation. "What is it, my dear friend? Do you not like my brilliant idea?"

The remaining person held no emotion on their face. Of course, the black side of him didn't seem to have a mouth. The white side kept a perfect facade on. Voldemort still didn't completely trust this guy.

"No, Voldemort-sama. We completely agree with your plan. We were merely going over some information that just came up. They seemed to have figured out their friend was still missing." Voldemort's grin grew a bit.

"Good. That means I'll be seeing all our little friends soon. Especially Harry." The plant man, as Voldemort referred to him, cut in. "The only ones coming are Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

The other two in the room smiled. Michio spoke right out. "Finally! Now I get my revenge!" The girl sitting next to him crossed her legs, bouncing her chocolate curls.

"I'm glad I didn't actually fall for him." Evelyn said, attempting to hide a horrible smirk. Voldemort had a party in his head. The three people that had forces of their own were all going to help him. They may actually be able to pull this off.

Zetsu's white side smiled. "It looks like one more may be joining their rankings soon. This could get a bit interesting." Voldemort whirled around. There was hope lit in his eyes.

"Is it Harry?" Zetsu shook his head. Voldemort nodded, before turning back around and looking through the small amount of glass. It was holding a dark mass captive. The dark mass didn't stir.

The body was bound and gagged, both of which Zetsu came up with. The captive's wand was sitting on a small stand near the couch Evelyn and Michio were sitting on. The body's chest moved up and down at a normal breathing rate.

"Do they know where we are yet?" Zetsu shook his head yet again. He was personally annoyed with his role in this battle. He would've wanted Tobi or Kisame to have taken his place, but Tobi is still slightly new, and Kisame has extreme temper issues. Plus, according to Leader-sama, Voldemort would trust him best if he gave him a good person. Since Zetsu had insane tracking abilities, he's the ideal present.

"No, they still don't know." Zetsu said, since Voldemort's mouth was about to open. "When they do figure it out, I'll tell you. But until then, I need to be able to concentrate on the jutsu. Voldemort's lip thinned dangerously, but he just nodded and turned again to the captive. It was beginning to stir.

The body flew up and ran to the side where Voldemort was. The big, bushy brown hair was even more mad than before. Her eyes were wide with fright at the sight in front of her. She tried yelling out to make them let her go, but the gag was doing it's job beautifully. Yep, Hermione Granger was in for a rough time. Especially since she was stuck there until someone came.

* * *

While all of this was going on, Shikamaru was taking in tons of new information. The seventh floor of Hogwarts, opposite of the tapestry of Bardabas the Barmy, there was a special room. A room that Shikamaru happened on while wondering just where Dumbledore was.

* * *

Finally got it out! Hoped you liked this one. I was so glad when I finally got over the 4,000 mark! OK, not sure when the next chapter will be out since I've got three or four midterms coming up next week, so I'll try to get it out soon.

Bye-Bye!


	14. Chapter 14

I am incredibly sorry for the long wait. I got this huge writer's block when I was at 1,294 words. I was also really sick for a while and had very little energy, especially to think. I hope you enjoy the very long awaited chapter!

* * *

Chapter 14

Naruto saw a bit of light start to creep through his eyelids. He squeezed them, making everything go black for a moment, until he slowly led the light invade his eyes. He instantly closed his eyes again.

"Ugh." He let that small noise escape his throat. He turned onto his side, noticing how much darker it had just become. He opening his eyes again to see a curtain. He turned to his other side to see that the curtain surrounded his bed. Naruto decided it was the best time to try sitting up. A dull ache came from his chest, but he continued sitting up. When he saw how white the whole place was, he groaned again, this time louder.

He was in the Hospital Wing, a place he had so far avoided this year. He was sick of hospitals. He was always in them back home, so he was hoping he would be strong enough to not get hurt. Since when do his hopes come true? Since never.

There was a faint sound of heels clicking on this floor to his right. The sound was steadily growing, until it stopped right next to his bed. He was expecting the curtain to fly open, but they didn't. Right when he believed it would stay this way, they flew open.

"Oh! You're awake! Good, there is quite a group here waiting for you. I only let two in, because they had other people to see in here as well." Madam Pomfery sighed slightly before pulling the curtain all the way open. Naruto squinted through the abrupt light that suddenly appeared. He hadn't realized all the light was from lamps throughout the hospital. It was nearly dark outside.

"You finally woke up." "Yeah, we've had to make do with talking to our annoying brother while we waited for you." "Thank God he was let out." Naruto's mouth broke out into a grin at seeing Fred and George standing in front of him. "Hey, guys!"

"Looks like you got pretty beat up." Naruto looked down and saw what he had seen many times before. His shirt was off and there were bandages all around his torso. He looked back up and nodded enthusiastically. They all burst out laughing, which ticked Madam Pomfery right off. She muttered something along the lines of "I let them in past visiting hours and they thank me by being very loud."

"Hey, what time is it?" Naruto asked. George answered without thinking about it. "It's nearly midnight."

Naruto couldn't believe it. When him and Sakura went out to find Harry and Ron, it had been only one thirty. By the time he had gotten knocked out, it was probably only two fifteen.

Memories of disturbing dreams took over his conscious thought. He saw the villages beating him, nearly killing him. He shook away the thoughts that threatened to change him.

"Where are Sakura and Sasuke?" Fred and George gave each other a quick glance. Naruto suddenly got a bad feeling. "Where are they?" He demanded.

They flinched before Fred answered. "They went after Hermione. They haven't contacted us or anything. Nobody had a clue where they are." Fred looked at the bed where Naruto was to see it empty. He heard a scurry of feet and they looked towards the door. Naruto had managed to run past Madam Pomfery, even in his weakened condition. Madam Pomfery made to get her wand out, but something tackled her from behind.

It was Naruto. He grabbed the yelling women's wand and ran after the first Naruto. Fred and George stared in mock disbelief. They ran over to the closest window and looked at the entrance. After a minute or two, it opened up and they saw a bandaged person run out. The light from the entrance hall gave them a clear view.

He disappeared into the dark. They were about to walk away when a light popped out of the darkness. They stared for a little while before a tall figure walked into the light. It had a bundle on it's back that it laid down just inside the entrance. Then, the figure walked back out into the light and walked into the darkness.

* * *

Sakura had caught up with Sasuke a while ago. She was keeping a steady pace, despite using up so much chakra to heal the others. They were making a lot of progress.

"Do you know where they took her?" Sasuke looked at her. "If I did, I would've been there by now."

He was incredibly upset that she came with him. It seemed that even with his revenge behind him, he still wanted to do things on his own. And this little thing wasn't helping anyone.

"It took long enough to find you. How troublesome." They spun their heads around to see Shikamaru. Sasuke was surprised the lazy guy would actually do something for once. "Just felt like giving you a idea as to where Hermione is."

"What?! How do you know where she is?" Sakura demanded. Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes. "The Room of Requirement."

"The Room of-what?" "The Room of Requirement." "And what the hell is that?" Shikamaru sighed and muttered troublesome under his breath. He really was hoping he didn't have to explain anything. I mean, isn't finding out where she was good enough?

"Magically, a door appeared when I went strolling past it on the seventh floor. I walked inside and the room had a map that was moving around and showed where both Hermione and Dumbledore were." Shikamaru said, hoping this was a good enough explanation.

There was silence as they continued their running. Shikamaru was grateful for the lack of questions. He then got himself busy with his plan. "Alright, Hermione is south-east at six-o'clock. She's being held in a cage of some sort that's sapping the magic out of her." That made the other two give him their full and undivided attention.

"What do you mean sapping the magic out of her? You don't mean ceasing her ability to be a witch anymore, right?" The look on Shikamaru's face answered the question instantly. "Now we've really got to hurry up."

They picked up their pace to recover any lost time. Shikamaru came up with a plan to break in and to destroy the cage Hermione was in. Though the map had shown where the place was and that she was in a cage, it hadn't shown what the cage was made of. That put a dent in his almost perfect plan. The hard part was actually putting the plan into action.

"It's 30 meters ahead. We've got to slow down a bit and pay attention to any traps that may have been laid." They all slowed down and scanned the upcoming trees for traps.

"Do you see anything?" Shikamaru whispered. The other two shook there heads. They searched for a moment more before deciding there weren't any traps that they could see.

They edged foreward, Sakura in front, Shikamaru in the middle, and Sasuke at the end. There was a small snap when Sakura took a step three meters from the wall that none of them noticed. It was at that moment that chaos broke out.

Men dressed in brilliant purple armor surrounded them. They went back to back, all having a kunai out. Sasuke instantly got his Sahringan activated without a second thought. The men in armor wasted no time to attack. They charged full speed toward the small group.

Sasuke kicked the first man to come to him hard in the gut, sending him flying backwards a few feet. Sasuke then proceded to stab a guy in the chest as hard as he could, spraying blood onto his clothes and face. At the moment the blood hit his face, he shut his eyes, due to people's natural reaction. In that moment, another one of the guys slammed their knee into Sasuke's back.

Sasuke felt his back crack, but he knew it wasn't broken. He opened his eyes to see himself flying strait to a sword that another gut was holding out. He got a chakra thread and connected a kunai to it. He immdiantly threw it at the sword, wrapping the thread around the sword and yanking it out of the guys hands. It slammed into the ground just as Sasuke passed over it.

He threw his legs out and kicked the guy in his stomach, a small moan coming from the man. The man stumbled backwards, giving Sasuke the time to grab his katana and stab him. Blood spluttered from the guy's mouth and he slumped onto the katana. Sasuke pulled it out, not caring if he damaged the man more.

Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake. Sasuke looked over towards Sakura, and not to his surprise, she had punched the ground sending five of the attackers flying. Sasuke smirked and started attacking his own enemies.

Shikamaru was having a bit of trouble. He didn't want to use his shadow possession because there were so many enemies. It would just prove to be pointless in the end.

He decided to just attack them with kunai and karate. It was proving to be effective for a little while, until Sakura used her strength to fight. He lost his balance and an attacker threw a kunai at him. It got caught in his arm. He let out a small moan of pain, but quickly took it out of his arm. 'Man, I wish Neji was here. He could just use his byakugan to see all the attacks.'

Shikamaru started fighting back with a bit more strength, which was keeping to enemy at bay. Sakura was not having many problems. The only problem was the enemy was beginning to avoid her fists very effectively. She didn't want to punch the ground again, because she had gotten Shikamaru hurt. She stuck to her kunai, shuriken, and fists.

Slowly, the attackers were dwindling in numbers. When the last one was dealt with, Sakura went over to Shikamaru and healed the wound on his arm.

"Well, that was fun." Sakura and Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, who looked satisfied. Sasuke then looked at the other two and asked, "What?"

"I've never seen you happy about anything like this." Sasuke smirked. "These guys were some of Michio's army. These guys were the weaker ones who were only just trained."

Sakura rolled her eyes slightly and Shikamaru stood up. "I guess we should get going." The others nodded and they made their chakra signatures smaller than before. They then proceeded to find a way into the building. The closest opening was a open window on the second floor. They all looked at each other and nodded. They began there climb up the wall.

Once they were all safely inside, they mapped out their surroundings. They were in what looked like a storage room. There were what appeared to be old scrolls and ninja books. It was like this place was in the shinobi world other than in the forbidden forest of Hogwarts.

"Well, this is interesting." Sakura said. They found the door and opened it, causing only a little creak to come from it. Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru then began their search of the building for Hermione.

* * *

"Well? Where are they?" An annoyed Voldemort was pacing the room, waiting for the black and white freak to answer. "Are they here yet or not?"

"They have entered the building. They defeated all the men we sent out." The black side then said what was on his mind. **"They are still just as filthy and disgusting as before."**

"Why aren't we delaying them anymore?" Michio gave Voldemort an annoyed look. "Because if we delay them anymore, then we'll have to wait even longer for them to get here. That'll just annoy all of us."

Michio was only thinking that if they delayed their coming anymore, Voldemort would annoy everyone to death. Zetsu had another reason on his mind. He wanted to quite wasting chakra looking for them. It gets pretty boring looking for people you know are about to be there.

"Where did the girl go?" Michio looked next to him to see an empty seat. He shrugged and went back to thinking. That meant it was up to Zetsu to look. He sighed and began the ritual once again. There were a few minutes of complete silence in which Voldemort had managed to pace the room about seventeen more times. Michio started sharpening his kunai and shuriken for something to pass the time. Finally, Zetsu spoke again.

"Evelyn has gone to meet the 'honored guests' and give them a warm welcome. She has just met up with them and a battle is about to begin. They seem to be slightly exhausted, but there also seems to be something wrong with Evelyn."

Neither of the other two showed any emotion to that fact. Zetsu didn't expect anything else, so it didn't bother him at all. He was looking foreward to this battle.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes groggily and saw nothing but darkness around him. He remembered being let out of the Hospital Wing because his injuries weren't bad. That meant he was back in the boy's dormitory.

He sat up and pulled the curtain back. He looked out to see everyone still sleeping. Harry went over to the window and saw the sun was just barely coming over the horizon. Harry sighed and got dressed. It was time to go to the Hospital Wing.

As Harry made his way downstairs into the common room, he got a large cold chill and had a bad feeling as to what he would find down there. He turned the last corner and was waiting for what was coming. There wasn't anyone else in the common room besides him. He let out a breath he wasn't aware of holding and started towards the door.

"Harry Potter!" Harry jumped out of his skins at the high pitched voice that came out of no where. "Down here, sir!"

Harry looked down at his feet and saw a mountain of hats. Underneath the hats was a small house elf wearing a couple of layers of clothes. That, was Dobby.

"Oh, hi Dobby. What are you doing here?" Dobby looked up, the hats teetering dangerously. "Dobby has come to deliver a message to Harry Potter, sir!"

"What's the message?" Harry was quite interested in who would send him a message by house elf. "Harry, go to the seventh floor corridor and go to the opposite wall of the tapestry of Bardabas the Barmy. Walk three times past that section of the wall thinking about how to find Dumbledore. Something interesting should happen. Shikamaru."

"Harry Potter, sir, do you want Dobby to take you there?" Harry only vaguely heard Dobby say something. He shook his head. "Goodbye, Harry Potter."

Harry had been standing in the middle of the common room for a few minutes before he snapped out of it. He shook his head to get his thoughts moving again before getting on his way to the seventh floor.

When he had almost made it, Mrs. Norris just happened to walk past him. Harry glared at her and she stalked off, looking like she was going straight to tell her caretaker. Harry just got to the designated spot and did what Dobby had told him to do.

Harry stopped and looked at the wall to see a door appearing out of nowhere. He was slightly shocked, but still opened it. After a small creak, he peered into the unknown room. Inside was a small room drenched in the bright light of the lamps on the wall. Harry walked inside, the door shutting itself behind him. The walls drew in his attention instantly.

They were covered with huge maps of every country in the world. On all of the maps, there were millions of names in small black print, much like the Marauder's map. Harry's eyes were instantly drawn to the map of Great Britain. He found London and saw a number 3 right near the outskirts of London. Harry looked down to the bottom of the map and saw the number three again, along with a small map of Diagon Alley. Though it was very early, there were quite a few dots moving in and out of the shops.

Next to Diagon Alley, there was a map of Hogwarts. He noticed it wasn't nearly as detailed as the Maurader's Map, but it had the general outline of Hogwarts. Many of the secret passages were there, minus the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor (not that it mattered, since it was caved in).

He took his eyes away from that map and turned to the other side of the room. There was a medium sized map on the table along with a red dot. Upon closer examination, the red dot was actually a small pin that was slowly moving. Below the pin was a name that Harry hadn't seen in a while. It was Dumbledore. Harry's mind went blank. He found out exactly where Dumbledore was. He was on an island with two other names he had never seen in his life.

Ursulina Hertea and Marcus Hertea. They were right next to Dumbledore and seemed to be following him to a black blob in front of them. Harry touched the map at the blob and it zoomed in. The blob was a small cottage right next to the beach. Harry looked around the rest of the map to figure out where this island was. He found that it was in the Atlantic ocean. It was an uncharted island, since it was so small. There was a small description under the title.

"_This island is a safe place for running wizards and witches. It has been enchanted to allow the people on the island to either hide the island or make it visable. Anything the people on it may need is provided for them including: food, shelter, fresh water, books, clean clothes, and the ablity to summon anyone they may need there. It is only known to the twins that made it (Ursulina Hertea and Marcus Hertea) and those they choose to know it. If there is a map, like this one, and someone reads it, they are now a secret keeper. In the world, 12 people know of this place. Their names are listed on the back along with a picture and a little information._"

Harry flipped the map over to see four rows of three people. The first three names were Dumbledore and those weird twins. The next two rows consisted of six criminals who were begging for a safe haven. All six of them were innocent. The next name made Harry panic. It was Evelyn. He instantly grew afraid that she would tell Voldemort and that odd Michio fellow.

He calmed down when he saw Shikamaru and himself as the last two. He grew curious and read Shikamaru's small biography. It told Harry that he was a person who would watch clouds and say everything's too troublesome. The most interesting part was where he had lost his sensei, whatever that was. He had gotten revenge from whoever killed his sensei. He was a leader, though he tried to be as laid back as possible. It also said he liked to play shougi.

Harry had only ever lost his parents, but he guessed he was technically trying to get revenge for all the people Voldemort had killed. This scared Harry. He hadn't ever killed anyone. These thoughts swam around in his head before he realized he had to do something. It was obvious Dumbledore had gone to that island to stay safe, but why wasn't he at least attempting to help? If Dumbledore didn't, then someone did.

With his new found courage, Harry stood and walked out of the Room of Requirement. He knew exactly what he had to do. This castle was going to be in chaos.

To be continued...

* * *

Again, sorry for the incredibly late update. If it makes you fell better, I got a huge brainstorm of ideas for this story, so you should probably just ignore what I wrote on my profile. I'm changing it later anyway. I promise that the next one will be up soon. Please R&R.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the slow update. I've been keeping up to date on the stories I'm reading, but not the story I'm writing. Oh, F.Y.I, I am fixing the first couple of chapters because I believe they could be a lot better. There won't be any changes to the story, so there's no need to re-read them.

Thank you to all the people who read the last chapter. Yes, there was only one review last chapter, but it's probably because I hadn't updated in a really long time, so others didn't look at the story. Anyway, enough rambling, on with the story.

* * *

Chapter 15

Shikamaru went on ahead and scouted out the upcoming hall. As he snuck there, he was getting irked by the amount of halls their were. He peered down the hall to see nothing. He then looked the other way to see a pale white figure drawing closer to them. Shikamaru instantly pulled his head back and motioned for the others to stay where they were.

Instead, they went right out in the middle of the hall and got ready to fight. Shikamaru mentally wanted to kick them for being so stupid. Seeing as they had already been spotted, Shikamaru sighed and mumbled, "What a drag."

"Who are you?" Sasuke called out. The figure stopped for a few seconds and began again. Sasuke got annoyed at the fact they weren't answering, so he ran up to the figure and pulled the hood on the cloak back. He jumped back after doing so to get a good look at them.

"Well, it looks like we get our rematch already, Sasuke." Evelyn's bittersweet voice reverberated throughout the corridor. Sasuke narrowed his eyes to a deadly level. He unsheathed his katana and called out to Sakura and Shikamaru. "I'll deal with her. You two keep going and get to Hermione."

They nodded and left as fast as they could. Shikamaru couldn't help but remember a similar time, only Sasuke was the one they were after.

"Well, do you want the first blow, or should I start off?" Evelyn's eyes widened slightly. "You're giving me a choice?"

"Not, really. I was just stalling time to get those two further away from us." Evelyn rolled her eyes. She then took out a sword. It had a red strip that flew down the middle with a red handle as well.

"Nice sword, but it's still not as good as a katana." With that, Sasuke unsheathed his katana, putting it in front of him. Evelyn smirked slightly before running with more speed than before. 'She's gotten faster.' Sasuke thought.

Sasuke managed to dodge the potentially lethal blow and used his left leg to trip her. She barely saw it coming and only stumbled when his leg hit hers. Sasuke took that advantage to slash her back. There was a hiss from Evelyn, showing she felt the blow to her back. She turned around, bringing her sword with her, hoping to catch Sasuke off guard, but she failed.

Sasuke jumped back and sidestepped into an empty room with three windows for light. It was much more spacious than the small hallway. Sasuke backed up against the wall in an attempt to blend into the darkness. When Evelyn came in, she searched the room for him.

Evelyn's eyes were blurred from the pain and from the injection she gave herself earlier. It granted her with greater speed, but it slowly ate away at her body. She can last a year after the strongest injection. The problem was, she had taken two injections so she could match Sasuke's speed. she knew she was going to die in this battle, but she was going to take Sasuke down with her.

She spotted a slight movement to her right and she threw a kunai at an insane speed. Sasuke dodged it with his katana and attacks her. His sword begins to chirp and he says, "Chidori Nagashi."

Evelyn felt her right arm go numb. It fell limply to her side, but it didn't bother her at all. She was left-handed, so the worst thing about not being able to use her right arm was she felt off balance. At the same time, it angered her that he had numbed any of her limbs even with the injections.

At this point, Sasuke was actually relieved that she had let her guard up for a second, which made him succeed in numbing one of her arms. Unfortunately, at this little victory, he let his guard down as well. Evelyn took this opportunity to start a barrage of quick punches and kicks, as she had discarded her sword.

He hadn't been ready when one of her kicks was infused with chakra. It made him fly backwards, nearly flying through the wall. A trickle of blood started down his cheek and dropped onto his leg. He stood up gingerly, which wasn't a good idea. Evelyn, seeing that infusing limbs with chakra made them powerful, used her good arm to slam her fist into his stomach while pushing up which made Sasuke fly to the ceiling.

He slammed against the ceiling with a loud thud, this time coughing out blood. Gravity made him fall to the ground where he got up as fast as he could. Sasuke had dropped his katana and it was near the wall. He ran and grabbed it just in time to parry a swipe from Evelyn's kunai, which she had just taken out.

"Not bad, seeing as you just got pummeled." Sasuke gritted his teeth and jumped back, Evelyn doing the same. They glared at each other before rushing forward with their weapons in front of them, ready to attack.

* * *

A clang could be heard throughout the building. Sakura and Shikamaru stopped and stared behind them, hoping Sasuke was doing alright. Voldemort and Michio instantly asked Zetsu for a report on what happened.

"Evelyn and Sasuke are fighting. **That is all that happened.**" Voldemort was obviously not pleased with the answer, but didn't really feel like getting on the bad side of the double personality plant.

Michio, on the other hand, was slightly upset that Evelyn was fighting Sasuke, when it was Michio that wanted to fight him the most. He was still itching to finish the fight from earlier in the year, mad that Voldemort only wanted him to attack for information, not kill.

"Where are the other two?" Michio asked. Zetsu glanced at him before answering. "Headed in this general direction. **They should be here in about five minutes, unless...**"

Zetsu trailed off, much to the annoyance of Voldemort, who was steadily getting more and more fed up with that damned plant. He held his anger at bay, knowing that if he killed him, they wouldn't have any clue where anybody was. He took a deep breath before looking behind him. The glass box was still there.

It was also waiting for a new victim to come in.

* * *

Harry went to the Hospital Wing and asked if he could see Ron and Naruto. Ron had just woken up when Harry entered. When he saw Harry, he got a big grin on his face.

"And here I thought you'd never come to see me. I am your best mate, so what took you so long? It's nearly noon. You look tired." Ron added, finally noting the small, dark bags around Harry's striking green eyes.

"Well, let's just say I've been...studying, for lack of a better word." Ron got a dumbfounded look on his face. "You were doing what?"

"It's not for school, it's for finding Dumbledore." Harry whispered, glad that Madam Pomfery decided to go back in her office. Ron nearly started talking really loud, but Harry covered his mouth just in time. "Shut up! I don't want Madam Pomfery to find out about any of this!"

Ron nodded in understanding and Harry removed his hand. "I know where he is, I just need to find a reason for him to come back. So, I'm going to start a-"

Harry was cut off from Naruto groaning loudly and slowly sitting up. "Why does it feel like I got knocked out last night?"

There was a moment of silence before Naruto spoke again. "Oh yeah, that's because I _was_ knocked out. Ugh, sometimes I wish I didn't do such stupid things."

Finally Naruto looked up to see both Harry and Ron looking at him funny. "Oh, hey guys! Are Sasuke and Sakura back yet?" They shook their heads slowly, afraid he might try running off again. "Man, they better hurry up. Maybe they can take out those two for us."

Naruto started laughing, throwing Harry and Ron completely off. Ron and Harry only knew that he ran off because Madam Pomfery had been whispering about it under her breath when she went to her office. She also said things like "That's way too young to have children be killing machines."

Naruto yawned loudly before jumping out of bed. "Well, I guess it's time to train some more. I was beaten pretty badly against that freak. I have to make sure I whoop some serious butt next time."

Just as Naruto was leaving, Madam Pomfery slammed her door open and asked in a very scary voice, "And where do you think you're going, Mr. Uzumaki? Leaving to help your friends again?" Naruto gulped before turning around and sitting back on his bed.

"That's what I had hoped your answer would be. Now, until you are completely healed, you are not leaving this room. Mr. Weasley, I believe you can be released a little later today." Ron only nodded. Naruto rolled his eyes. It didn't matter what he tried, he knew he was stuck. Nobody ever believed that he healed quickly.

* * *

Sakura's thoughts were drifting from the task at hand. They continued to find their way to Sasuke. She prayed with every cell in her body that he was alright, but then she felt guilty for not believing in him more. If he managed to not only defeat Orochimaru, but Itachi as well, then he could defeat someone like Evelyn. The foreboding feeling came back to her as she thought that.

Being a medical ninja meant she tended to check over everyone more than others would. When she saw it was Evelyn, she noticed that she was slightly limping and her breath, which was faint, was somewhat ragged. That meant Evelyn was using some sort of drug to enhance something, whether it be speed or the amount of chakra she possessed.

"Don't worry about Sasuke." Sakura snapped her head to Shikamaru and stared, shocked that he said something like that. "It's a drag, but he's strong enough to defeat someone even if they have enhanced features."

Sakura sighed. She should have known he would noticed the same thing she did, even if he was incredibly lazy. They sped to the end of the hallway and turned right. Sakura nearly ran into the door that was in front of them.

"Tch, troublesome." Sakura wanted to turn around and wail on him, but decided against it when she heard the laughter in the room behind the door.

The door opened quickly, unlike what most people would believe, and the room was dark. Shikamaru cursed at his luck and ducked into the room, followed closely by Sakura. The door stayed open, giving Sakura and Shikamaru some light to go by.

"Kukuku, looks like Evelyn did get Sasuke. That sucks. Oh well, I'll just have fun with you two." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Where's Voldemort?"

Michio's laughter grew at that. The Konoha shinobi narrowed their eyes. "Don't worry, he left a while ago."

Sakura immediately pipped up with, "Then where's Hermione?" Michio smiled. "We let her go. We're far enough away from Hogwarts that it would take her days to find her way back."

Shikamaru sighed for the umpteenth time. "Great, another fight that we've gotten ourselves into. Why can't everyone just be friends and stop fighting so I can stare at the clouds all day?"

Sakura cast a sideways glare at Shikamaru. Why was it that the one person she just had to be paired up with is incredibly lazy? She shifted her gaze back to Michio, who was smirking like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, why don't we get this little charade going? I don't think this is a very suitable place, though." He suddenly pointed into the darkness. "Follow me into a bigger and slightly brighter room."

Shikamaru cursed out loud this time, causing Sakura to glance his way. Michio seemed very pleased with Shikamaru's reaction. He had read up on him when Zetsu had said he was coming. Michio knew all about the his Kagemane no Jutsu.

Michio beckoned them into the darkness before disappearing into it as well. They both hesitated until a small amount of light was shown in the darkness. They both cautiously moved forward, not knowing how stupid of an idea that could become.

* * *

Sasuke was clutching his right arm, blood flowing through his fingers. Evelyn had cut him pretty deep using a kunai she had taken out as their blades hit. Currently, she was smirking at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? Aw, poor baby."

Sasuke swung at her, causing some more blood to squirt out of his wound. He hissed in pain before grabbing some bandages out of his pouch. He quickly wrapped the bandages around the wound and tied it tightly. He put the remaining bandages back in his pouch just in time to parry a swing from Evelyn, who tried the same trick again.

Sasuke had grabbed his own kunai and parried the one Evelyn took out. She sighed slightly before jumping back. "I should have guessed that it wouldn't work a second time. I had to try though, right?"

Sasuke barely paid attention to her talking. He was figuring out any weak points that she had shown to him which, so far, was zero. He did notice she was getting a bit tired from all of the movement. Was she pregnant or something?

Sasuke sprinted to her right and then straight at her with greater speeds than before. That's when Evelyn realized distinct black marks were all over Sasuke's body. She flinched as a fist was plowed into her stomach. She flew backwards into the wall, all the breath leaving her in seconds. Sasuke didn't give her time to recover and slashed out at her with his katana.

Evelyn shielded herself with her arm before it was cut clean off just before the elbow. She screamed in agony, blood spurting from the veins, the rest of her arm landing with a sickening noise. Sasuke was slightly disgusted with the scene in front of him before he decided to end her agony.

"Goodbye."

A head was sliced off, it falling almost comically. Blood flew into the air, completely covering the wall and everything surrounding the rest of the body. The head of this person landed with a crunch, bouncing a few times in joy. It finally calmed down as the body slumped to the floor, blood still flooding out of the opening. A puddle steadily grew around the decapitated head as someone stepped out of the puddle. They sheathed a sword and left the room.

* * *

Sakura squinted in the darkness, feeling her way around. Suddenly, the darkness slowly dissipated, leaving a dim light in its place. Michio stood in the middle of this new room, which was shaped as a dome, no shadows anywhere in the whole room.

"Wondering where the shadows went? This room was specially made by Evelyn to take away all shadows and I made it so no one will ever know you're in here. It hides all chakra signatures." Shikamaru swore, receiving a glare from Sakura. He shook his head slightly before thinking.

Sakura was gauging her opponent. She didn't know much of anything about his fighting style besides using a katana. This put them at a disadvantage. He had obviously looked up their profiles and figured out what their fighting techniques were. This was the perfect situation to be in.

The two Konoha shinobi looked at Michio as he smirked and disappeared. Both of their eyes widened before a grunt was heard from Shikamaru. Sakura automatically looked at him to see him knocked out. Sakura stared for a second, realizing that they had lost the advantage of numbers, before her brain noticed a small whistling. She jumped out of the way as Michio appeared before her.

"So, you can sense me? Good, I need a good fight." He took his katana out and smirked. Sakura ran forward, gathering tons of heavily-compressed chakra into her left fist. "Shannaro!"

Rock and dust flew up around her from hitting the ground. She had noticed Michio's chakra signature leaving just before she punched. Sakura knew this would happen. It was very lucky if you actually hit your target, seeing as the technique is so slow.

"Wow, it's even slower than I thought. Is that all you can do?" Sakura whipped her hand around, hoping to backhand him, but he moved way to fast. It seemed like he had been training, if the bandages weren't a dead giveaway. Michio slashed at Sakura, but she back flipped out of the way. Quickly, she took out a shot and injected herself with it.

Michio ran at her before she disappeared. His eyes widened. Why was it that she had suddenly gotten fast? He ducked underneath a punch only seconds before it would have hit him. He backpedaled right into a fist that made him fly face-first into the wall. Sakura was panting, glad that she made the potion.

The potion was a simple one she had learned from the potions books she took out. It was a potion which granted the user a temporary boost in speed. It lasts five minutes before it leaves the user exhausted. Sakura already felt the potion's side affect hitting her. She stumbled to Shikamaru, checking for injuries. All she saw was the injury from before. Otherwise, he was merely knocked out.

Sakura thought of ways to wake him up and decided what the fastest way was. She slapped him across the face. "Ow, what was that for?" Sakura laughed as he clutched his cheek.

"I needed to get you up quickly. We need to go. I don't know when he'll wake up, but I'm sure it'll be soon." Sakura tried standing but wobbled dangerously. Shikamaru quickly stood to help her. "What did you do that made you like this?"

"I took a potion I made that boosts you're speed for five minutes before you're completely worn out." Shikamaru mumbled, "Troublesome."

"Alright, we've got to go help Sasuke if he's still fighting." With that being said, they made their way out of the room, Shikamaru supporting Sakura in her weakened state.

* * *

I know this chapter's short, but I wanted to end it there and I wanted to update. I just have to say that I am insanely sorry for the wait and I don't really care if the review is only a compliment to the story, I want reviews! They tell me I'm not boring people and if I am, then I know I need to change my idea of where this story's going. Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The gloominess that hung in the air of the hospital wing was scaring Ron and Harry. Naruto was completely oblivious to the fact that he was whispering to himself, which caused Harry and Ron to get more scared. The fact of the matter was, Naruto was bored out of his mind and was attempting to think of a new jutsu.

'Man, if only someone where here to help me like Kakashi-sensei.' Naruto thought. So far, his list of possible new jutsus was at...zero. He had tons of ideas, but none of them included the chakra he possessed, which was fuuton. That was when it came to him.

He jumped out of bed, startling Harry and Ron even more. Naruto gave them a nod before leaving the hospital wing. He knew Madam Pomfery would give him hell later, but for now, he knew what he had to do. Well, it was more who he had to talk to.

He raced to the Gryiffindor common room hoping not only to change, but talk to Shikamaru. Asuma was a wind user, wasn't he? So, that meant Shikamaru must remember some of the things that Asuma did using fuuton.

Unfortunately, when Naruto made it to the common room, Shikamaru was no where in sight. He went up to their little dorm room and changed into a black t-shirt and bright orange pants. The first's necklace hung around his neck as always. Naruto smiled at the memory of how he got it, but quickly got out of his daze. He needed Shikamaru.

Naruto looked everywhere he believed the lazy guy could be hanging out at. So far, he had absolutely no luck in the matter. He had asked a few people if they had seen him, but they didn't even really remember the guy. He couldn't really blame them since Shikamaru had only been there for a day or two.

After about another hour of searching, he grew sure that Shikamaru wasn't in or directly around the building. Naruto sat down on a bench in the courtyard, listening to the wizards around him.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" He looked up to see Ginny standing in front of him. "Oh, hey Ginny. I can't find Shikamaru, so I'm taking a break from my search."

"That sounds like loads of fun. Have you seen Harry? I heard he was released from the Hospital, but I haven't seen him anywhere..." Naruto looked at her and instantly knew. "He's up in the Hospital Wing with Ron. I get the feeling they need to talk about something alone, because they barely talked before I escaped."

"Wait, you left before Madam Pomfery gave the O.K.?" Naruto nodded as Ginny's eyes widened. "You are going to get it some day."

Naruto laughed. He already knew this fact. All doctors are the same, so Naruto had years of practice with Tsunade and Sakura. Naruto looked out to the forest and saw a figure approaching that stumbled a bit. Soon, the figure fell. Naruto jumped up and ran to the fallen figure, Ginny following him. When he got there, he stopped dead in his tracks, mouth dropping and eyes widening.

"What happ-" Ginny knew who this person was without asking. It was the one so many people had attempted to rescue.

It was Hermione Granger.

* * *

Shikamaru's shoulder was getting sore from supporting Sakura. She had gone from stumbling everywhere to barely being able to move. Why did she have to take the injection?

"I'm pretty sure this was the hallway we left Sasuke in." Sakura said, attempting to get her legs straight. Shikamaru grunted in acknowledgment as she adjusted herself. They walked down the hallway for a while before Shikamaru stopped. Sakura nearly fell down from the stop, which only angered her.

"Why did we-" Shikamaru intervened before she got 'troublesome'. "We're walking on blood."

Sakura looked down to see the crimson liquid in a trail that lead to a door twenty feet in front of them. They continued down the hall to the door and pushed it open.

Inside, it was dark. Sakura took herself off of Shikamaru and leaned on the wall. Shikamaru celebrated for a moment before reaching in his kunai pouch for a light. He found Asuma's lighter and decided it was better than nothing. He lit the lighter after a few tries and dropped it when he saw what was on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, suddenly worried about what he saw. Shikamaru was frozen in place. It was like his brain had shut his body of from every small motion that a normal body does.

Sakura reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out a light that was standard for shinobi to have. She took the cap off and ignited the light. She shakily took a step forward and fell. Her body obviously wasn't ready to move on it's own.

When Sakura landed, there was a splash of liquid, which she knew was blood. She grabbed the light, which hadn't gone off, and sat on her knees. She held the light up to see what had scared Shikamaru enough to make him drop something.

Sakura froze, just like Shikamaru had. She could only stare at what was in front of her. There was a body, which was coated in blood. The head of the body was was no longer on the body. It lay in front of the body. The face of the body held no emotion at all.

The body and face belonged to Sasuke. The blood belonged to Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha was dead.

Shikamaru and Sakura were frozen in disbelief and fright. There was no way that was truly Sasuke. It had to be a genjutsu. Both shinobi moved simultaneously. Once their seal was in place, they both said, "Kai!"

Nothing happened. Sasuke's body was still just like it was before. Dead and soaked in blood. As if a switch had been flicked, they both ran forward to his body. They would make sure it was a fake body. They had to, in order to keep their sanity.

'This isn't real. Someone's playing a really dirty trick on us. There's no way this is really Sasuke. I'll kill them when I see them again. Those sick freaks are worse than Orochimaru!' Sakura thought, as she turned the body around, ignoring the trickle of blood out of a artery in the neck. She was looking for any sign of stitches, but found none.

Shikamaru was looking at the head and swallowing the sick feeling of touching a dead person's head. 'That's because this isn't really Sasuke. It's all fake. We will prove this fact.'

For nearly an hour, they checked every part of his body. The conclusion they came to was simple. This was really Sasuke.

The first to break down was Sakura. Though she had outgrown her crush, he still met a lot to her. He was an older brother to her in every way possible. She sobbed harder than she had ever cried in her life. She fell onto his chest, trying to ignore the fact that the chest would never move again.

Shikamaru felt vulnerable. He felt as though everything that had happened in his life meant nothing. He had failed in his duty to protect people close to him, even if Sasuke wasn't on his best friend list. He was still a Konoha shinobi that he had grown to appreciate after he returned. Now, he was gone, never to help any of Konoha again. The tears came all at once, startling him. He hadn't thought he would ever break down like this, but it happened.

The great Sasuke Uchiha was gone from their world, never to return again. He was only the first.

* * *

Zetsu walked through the hallway, ignoring Evelyn who was behind him. She was still crying and in pain. Her arm was gone. She was satisfied that the one who took it was dead.

"If you don't stop that crying, **we will kill you.**" Evelyn glared at the plant man in front of her. She never liked the guy andwas beginning to hate him even more. "Maybe I'm just in a crap load of pain. Did you ever think that?"

Zetsu didn't answer, causing more anger to build up in her. She was about to start screaming, but Zetsu slipped into the darkness. She was surprised for only a second. Then, she was purely pissed off. "Where the hell did you go?"

Suddenly, Evelyn felt weak. The first thing to pop into her head was, "Damn. I'm going to die now because of the injection. Just after he dies, I get to die too. Predictable."

She slumped to the floor, passing out cold. Zetsu came out of the darkness carrying a unconscious Michio. He looked down at Evelyn. He leaned down and grabbed Evelyn, paying no attention to the fact that she was dead. He started on his way back to the real hideout.

* * *

Naruto was sprinting with Ginny close behind. He was carrying an unconscious Hermione to the hospital wing. He knew that he would get yelled at by Madam Pomfery later, but she would be too busy with Hermione to care right away.

They burst through the doors, scaring Ron and Harry, who had been whispering to each other. "Hermione!" They yelled out simultaneously. Madam Pomfery came out of her room and said in a annoyed voice, "What is all the ruckus - Ms. Granger! Oh my, what happened?"

Naruto spoke first, "We found her collapsed on the grounds. She's still alive, but I don't know what's wrong with her." Madam Pomfery nodded and checked her over.

"All I can see is she has barely enough energy to do anything. Something was sucking out her magic." Ron and Harry looked up at Madam Pomfery. When she showed no signs of explaining further, Ron grew angry. "What does that mean? Does it mean she's got no magic left in her or something?"

"Mr. Weasley, please wait outside. Mr. Potter, would you escort him out?" Harry didn't move. "I'm not going anywhere if Hermione's in here and hurt."

Madam Pomfery jerked her head up and yelled, "All of you, get out right now!"

Naruto grabbed Harry and Ron and pulled them outside into the hall. "Listen, I know you guys want to make sure she's okay, but you need to let Pomfery-san help her. It's the best thing you can do for her."

That, of course, didn't stop Ron from bursting out. "What would you know about it? You've never gone through your best friend, no, crush being hurt to the point that she might never be able to use magic again! She could die in there! You don't know what it's like to feel so helpless!"

Naruto gave a dry laugh. "You have no idea what I've been through. The amount of friends that I've seen die is...well, it's more than you'll see in a long time." With that, Naruto left the two stunned boys. Ron still felt anger, but also felt ashamed of himself. He barely knew anything about Naruto and he put words right in his mouth.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said all of those things. He seemed kinda upset." Ron nodded, saying nothing. Harry sighed and sat down. He looked up to see Ginny.

"Where did you come from?" Ginny shook her head. "I followed Naruto in. We were talking when we saw Hermione collapse, so I followed him here."

"Oh. Sorry I didn't see you when you came in." Ginny smiled.

"It's alright. You were worried about Hermione. You're a good friend, so I don't mind." Harry stood up again when the doors opened. Madam Pomfery told them they could come in and see her.

"She's going to be fine. The object that sucked her magic out only wanted to stop her from using magic. We can get more details when those other ninja come back."

That startled Harry and Ron. Harry spoke first. "You knew that they were ninja?" Madam Pomfery's eyes widened slightly, realizing what she had just told them.

"Professor Dumbledore told the staff so they would know who to go to in case of an emergency." Harry nodded, understanding. He wasn't mad at Dumbledore for failing to tell him who they were guarding, though it seems like they are practically guarding the whole school.

Harry looked over at Ron and saw him holding Hermione's hand to death. He smiled slightly and looked out the window. The shinobi needed to hurry and get back. They were starting to worry more than one person.

* * *

"We have to go."

The one sentence pushed Sakura out of a memory. She wiped her eyes and stood up. She looked at Shikamaru and nodded. They were going to leave Sasuke's body here and go back. They would come back with Naruto later to bury him.

Sakura felt tears surface as she thought about his grave. Without her consent, they spilled over the edge and wouldn't stop. She fell back to the floor, sobbing her heart out. His death was really starting to hit her hard.

Shikamaru sighed and went over to her. His crying had ended a while ago, though a part of him still ached slightly. He wasn't quite sure how to comfort a girl after something like this, so he just rubbed her back. It seemed to calm her down slightly, so he kept it up until the sobs subsided. He helped Sakura stand up and they left the dreadful room.

Most of the way back to Hogwarts was silent. When the castle came into view, Sakura stopped. "Shikamaru, wait a second. I need to talk to you."

Shikamaru stopped, sighed, and went over to her. If she broke out in sobs again...

"We'll need to get Naruto alone to tell him. He's going to completely freak out and wreck havoc on everything surrounding him. Do you have any places we can bring him?" Shikamaru thought for a moment before nodding. "The Room of Requirement."

He told Sakura where it was and what it did. She was sort of surprised that such a place existed, but at the same time, she was dreading going in there.

"I'll get Naruto and tell him we need to talk to him in there. That way, he won't flip out in the hall." Sakura nodded. "Also, he won't notice that you've been crying and in a lot of blood."

Sakura looked down at her clothes and gasped. Her pants were soaked through with blood and she had never noticed. "Just ask for some new clothes in the room. I'm sure they'll be there."

Shikamaru walked off, leaving Sakura. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before starting on her way. Her destination was the seventh floor.

When she made it there, she walked past the wall three times thinking, 'We need a place so Naruto can blow up and so I can get new clothes.'

She heard a small click and opened her eyes to see a door. She pushed it open and went inside. It was a fairly nice sized room that held many contraptions. There were four bookshelves overflowing with books. There was a desk on the side of the room that was filled with papers. Then, there were all sorts of metal instruments that decorated the whole room, including the ceiling.

And, just as was promised, a red blouse and jeans were awaiting her on a chair. She quickly changed and pushed her bloodied clothes in a bag under the desk. It felt much better to be in dry, clean clothes, even if the were a bit big.

She sat down in the chair and waited for Shikamaru to come with Naruto. That was when her nervousness appeared.

* * *

"SHIKAMARU! YOU'RE BACK!" Shikamaru had plugged his ears, knowing that that was coming. He rolled his eyes. Of course, all of this was very short lived because Naruto decided to be a little kid again and tackle him to the ground.

"Get off, Naruto!" Naruto was grinning too much to pay attention. He just hugged him to death, ignoring the glances he was getting.

Shikamaru had gone straight to the common room, hoping he would be there and shorten his task of finding him. Fortunately, he was there. Unfortunetely, that meant they would have to tell him that much faster.

Shikamaru finally just pushed Naruto off of him and stood up. "Naruto, come with me. We need to tell you something."

Naruto's grin faded slightly. "Where's Sakura and Sasuke?"

Shikamaru turned and said, "Just follow me."

The whole entire trip was eerily silent. Naruto was getting scared. 'Did that mean they were...dead?' 'Of course not! They are too strong to die like that!' 'The way Shikamaru was talking is telling me differently, though.'

When they got there, Shikamaru walked past the wall three timed and grabbed Naruto to go in. They went in and immediately saw Sakura. 'Thank God, she hasn't been crying.'

"Sakura-chan!" Sakura smiled weakly at Naruto. He saw that and his grin disapeared. He gulped, afraid to ask the question. A few more seconds of silence followed until he finally asked, "Where's Sasuke?"

Shikamaru looked at Sakura. She broke the gaze, knowing what she had to do. "Naruto..."

"Don't say it." Sakura looked at Naruto and her heart broke into more pieces. He had turned his back to them and was shaking. His hands were in fists. She looked away.

Naruto was angry. He had no idea why. They hadn't told him for sure what he was thinking. Why was all this anger pulsating through him?

**"Because, he is dead. And there isn't anything that you can do about it."**

Naruto opened his eyes to see a cage. The Kyuubi's cage, that is. He was grinning maliciously. Naruto felt his anger peak out of no where and he ran at the cage.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" The fox laughed. **"How could it be my fault? I wasn't anywhere near him when he was killed."**

Outside of his mind, Sakura and Shikamaru had backed up against the wall. Naruto was throwing everything in his reach. They saw his face. His eyes were blood red and tears were streaming out of them. Sakura's heart shattered more, if it were even possible. She started to feel guilty for not helping Sasuke, even though he would have made them leave anyway.

When Naruto got to the bookshelves, he just punched them as hard as he could, sending everything flying. Sakura and Shikamaru were getting hit by books every second. They didn't complain.

Naruto suddenly stopped and turned around. He glared at Sakura and Shikamaru. **"It's your fault Sasuke's dead!"**

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She burst out into tears for the hundredth time that day. Shikamaru looked at her and then back at Naruto just in time to see him sprint at them.

'Damn!' Shikamaru grabbed Sakura and jumped out of the way of Naruto. That didn't stop him. He went after them again and slammed his fist into Shikamaru's face. He lost hold of Sakura and slammed into the wall. He clutched his nose in pain.

Sakura hit the floor. She didn't care. She continued to cry her eyes out. Naruto walked up to her and grabbed her by her shirt. Sakura's eyes flew open and she stared at the kyuubi's eyes.

**"You could have saved him, but you didn't! You could have helped him!** But you left him to die!" Naruto's eyes faded back to his normal blue eyes, but the tears only grew. He set Sakura down on her feet and fell to the ground himself.

He felt a warm presence drape themselves around his body. He opened his eyes to see bright pink hair and he closed his arms around her. They sat like this for a while. Shikamaru steamed the flow of blood and just sat there, willing the tears to leave him. Since when do tears listen to anyone?

* * *

"Ron?" Harry and Ron jumped up to see Hermione's eyes open. Ron smiled the biggest smile Harry had ever seen on him. That caused Harry to start smiling. Hermione was going to be okay.

"Thank God you're alright! We've all been worried sick!" Hermione looked around to see Ron, Harry, and Ginny around her bed. She smiled and thanked them all for being there.

"Do you really think we'd leave our best friend all alone in the hospital wing?" Her smile grew even more. Madam Pomfery decided to walk out at that moment.

"Ms. Granger! I'm so happy to see you awake!" She quickly came over and checked her over. "It seems as though you'll need to stay here overnight in order to regain some of the lost magic. It won't be hard, don't worry."

"Thank you for taking care of me." Hermione said, which Madam Pomfery quickly told her, "It's my job. I would look after anyone even if it weren't my job."

Everyone beamed at her statement. She soon left back to her office. They sat around and chatted for a little while before Harry asked the question they had been avoiding. "What did they do to you in there?"

Hermione's grin disappeared instantly. Everyone else's grins also dropped off their faces. Harry ignored this and just stared intently at her. She swallowed, and began her tale.

"Well, they didn't physically harm me. They had captured me way back when Evelyn came by. I was unconscious, so I don't really know what happened during most of that. I'm guessing somebody grabbed me and took me into the forest. The first thing I remember is waking up in some sort of box and seeing...V-voldemort outside it."

Everyone's eyes widened at Hermione's words. She actually said Voldemort. "Go on," Harry told her.

"I slipped in and out of consciousness a couple of times. I couldn't hear anything they said outside the box. A buzzing seemed to be blocking any words. Anyway, it was like that for a couple of days. They gave me food and water, which I wasn't expecting. I did start to feel really, really weak by the end of my confinement."

"All of the sudden, V-voldemort let me out and told me to leave through a door that he had opened in that room. It led outside and I just started running. I think I went unconscious once or twice, but that part was mostly foggy."

Everyone was silent through her story. Ron had tightened his grip on her hand as if he was afraid she'd suddenly disappear. "We are going to stop him from ever doing that to you or anyone again, but there's something we need to do first."

They all looked up at Harry. He cleared his throat and started again. "We need to contact Dumbledore. Well, first, we need to find a way to contact him, and then we'll contact him."

Everyone looked slightly dumbfounded. "Why do we need to contact him?" asked Ginny, who hadn't spoken in a while.

"Well, we need to get help to get rid of Umbridge somehow, don't we?" They still didn't get what he was saying. He sighed again. "We need his help in finding any weaknesses she has so we can make her so scared of Hogwarts that she never returns."

Hermione was the first to speak. "But the first place she'll go is the ministry and she'll tell everyone how horrible Hogwarts is. They'll be sure to take complete control of it!"

This is when Harry smiled. He had thought of a way to do it, though it was probably one of the stupidest ideas of his life. "We are going to-"

The doors opened and everyone looked over to them. In came the shinobi. The four others instantly knew something was wrong when all of there faces were red and puffy. They had been crying.

"Sasuke's...dead."

* * *

Please...spare me! I know, 90 percent of you will be sending hate mail for weeks, but please, I have a plan. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you really _don't_ kill me. Trust me, it will be better if you don't. Oh, and before I forget, I will be able to update more now that it's finally summer vacation. Man, when I actually get a real job, updating these stories is going to be hell. Oh great, now I'm thinking about the future.

Oh, one more thing. Please don't hate me for still not telling you Harry's plan. When you do find out what it is, you will probably be kind of dumbfounded as to how the hell that'll work. :P


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The four students from Hogwarts stared at the three shinobi. Their eyes were open in shock and they were silent. Hermione was the first to speak. "He's...dead?"

The three ninja nodded simultaneously. There was more silence before Harry walked over to them. "Have you..." He trailed off, but everyone knew what he was trying to say.

"Not yet. We're going to after we finish talking to you." Shikamaru was the only one who could talk. Naruto and Sakura had choked up again and tears started glistening on their cheeks. They held each other, causing more grief to spill through the room.

"I'll go with you." Harry said, startling everyone in the room. Ginny stood up off of the bed she had been sitting on and went over to Harry. She looked at Naruto and Sakura. Then, she looked over at Shikamaru. "I'm going too."

The three shinobi were grateful that two people who barely knew Sasuke were going to come to the funeral. "I would go, but I'm going to stay with Hermione."

Everyone nodded, understanding. Hermione looked up at him and smiled. She really did love the guy, whether he was an idiot or not. The five people going to bury Sasuke said their goodbyes to Ron and Hermione and left. They got down to the doors leading outside and opened them, seeing that it was nearing the sunset.

"I remember," everyone looked over at Naruto, who was talking, "When I dragged Sasuke up to the top of the Hokage's monument to watch the sunset. He just stared at it, but I knew he thought it was beautiful."

Sakura wiped away a rogue tear. She already missed the days right after Sasuke was released from his month of constant watch. The three of them went all over the village. They went to Ichiraku's quite a few times. They trained, under the close watch the ANBU, on the old training ground where they did the bell test. Sakura had to go home early that night, so she left Naruto and Sasuke alone. That must have been the night they went up to watch the sunset.

"He was awesome in his own way. He came back to us, even after everything he had done. We finally got him back." Naruto stopped talking and just looked forward. They were a bit into the forest. He had no idea where to go from here, so he let Sakura and Shikamaru in front. "One of you get on my back and the other get on Shikamaru's back. It'll take less time this way."

Ginny got on Naruto's back while Harry got on Shikamaru's back. Much to the displeasure of Harry and Ginny, the three shinobi began moving at incredible speeds. When they started jumping on the tree branches, they grew slightly scared. It was a pretty wobbly ride.

Harry knew they were far past Aragog's lair and where Grawp was tied up. He had never been this far into the Forbidden Forest. When they began to slow down, Harry saw a old building. They got off the trees and Naruto and Shikamaru let Harry and Ginny off their backs. They began to enter the building.

Seeing how dark it was, Harry and Ginny automatically got their wands out and said, "Lumos!" The ends of their wands ignited and the three shinobi did the same, realizing it was much more efficient.

Shikamaru took the lead and led them through the twisting halls. They managed to finally get to the room. "You two should stay out here, okay? I don't think this is something you should see."

Harry and Ginny nodded. They were both relieved that they didn't have to see what was in the room. Every one could already smell the stench of blood through the cracks around the door.

The three shinobi opened the door and entered the room. Sakura shut the door behind her. Naruto brought his wand over to where he could smell blood the most and almost turned away. Sasuke's eyes were still open. Naruto knelt down and closed them, saying a silent prayer. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Sasuke was decapitated.

Naruto yelped and jumped back. Sakura and Shikamaru looked over at him. Shikamaru spoke first. "We should have told you about that."

Naruto ignored the comment and proceeded to ask Sakura something. "Do you know anyway we can re-attach his head?"

"Without proper medical supplies or anything to sew with, I don't have any idea." Naruto looked crushed at that, but instantly got another plan. He went over to the door, opened it, went into the hall, and quickly closed the door. He startled the wizards.

"Do either of you know a spell to sew with?" They thought for a moment. Harry was starting to shake his head when Ginny said, "My mum taught me a spell to sew with. I couldn't ever use it, since it was out of school grounds. All it is is a certain wrist movement."

Naruto let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and asked her, "Will you be willing to come in and re-attach something for me?"

Ginny instantly paled. Naruto and Harry both noticed this. Harry was about to say she shouldn't when she said, "Okay." Both Naruto and Harry were surprised by her actions. Naruto nodded and led her inside. Naruto was going to close the door when Harry came over and said, "I'm going in too."

Naruto sighed and let him in. When he turned around, he saw Harry against the wall, a sick look plastered on his face, and Ginny next to Sasuke, starting her wand work. Naruto felt guilty at destroying their innocence at such a young age. He was the same age, yes, but he had grown up with this kind of thing, while they had not.

There was some silence while everyone watched Ginny's work. It took her a few tries, but she got the wrist movement down and was re-attaching his head. When she finished, she stood up and went outside the room. Harry followed her, knowing exactly what was probably going to happen. The three shinobi gave each other looks before they proceeded to wrap his body up.

When they had finished, Harry and Ginny still weren't back yet. The ninja just brought his body outside using a spell. They brought him through the halls until they were back in the forest. They saw the wizards sitting on a three stump. They were whispering to each other. When they saw the shinobi, they stopped.

They brought Sasuke over to a tree and used a shovel that they found to start digging. While they waited, it was deathly silent. Naruto was the one digging the grave, but he also said nothing. Everyone's thoughts were on different things.

"It's done." Everyone jumped at Naruto's voice. They brought Sasuke over to the grave and dropped him in. Naruto started burying him and when he finished, there was still more silence.

"Sasuke wasn't one of my best friends," began Shikamaru, "I really began to hate him when he left the village, almost costing some of my friends their lives. When he came back, I was convinced he was going to destroy Konoha. When he was released from ANBU watch, I still wasn't entirely convinced."

"Then I saw that Naruto and Sakura were happier than they had ever been. It really made me glad to see them so happy. It was only then that I truly started to believe he would protect the village."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Shikamaru in awe. He had never been the type to say something like that, so it really made them happy. "Thank you, Shikamaru."

He nodded, taking a step back. Neither Naruto nor Sakura knew what to say. "I never really got to know Sasuke, but he always seemed to love his friends. He just never had the guts to show it."

Everyone was grateful for Harry saying something like that. He barely knew the guy, yet he said something at his funeral. Naruto saw a jagged rock and grabbed it. He went over to the tree behind his grave and wrote 'Sasuke Uchiha, a great friend'. Sakura grabbed the rock from him and wrote underneath it, 'We'll all miss you'.

They stood around his grave for a moment of silence before they began to leave. Once again, Ginny got on Naruto's back while Harry got on Shikamaru's back. They went on their way through the dark forest, leaving a small ray of sun that had gotten through the thick tree branches. It lingered on his grave for a moment before disappearing.

* * *

Everything was going perfectly. Well, besides the little mishap with getting into Dumbledore's office. Dolores Jane Umbridge's day didn't seem like it could get bad. It was going too perfectly to turn sour now.

A small knock was heard on her door. "Come in," she said in a quiet, squeaky voice. Minerva McGonagall came in. Dolores's day just got worse. "It seems that the three foreign exchange students have been missing for a while along with Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley."

"Oh, what a shame." Dolores took a sip of her tea and set it down. Minerva held her anger in the best she could. "I believe it would be a good idea to send some people to find them."

Dolores smiled sickeningly. "Oh, no. We need to carry on with our schedule. We can't get off task because of some delinquents." Her anger snapped.

"Do you realize who is out there? The only one who can truly defeat You-Know-Who!" Dolores rose her eyebrows at this outburst. "With all do respect, Minerva, You-Know-Who is dead. Harry Potter is nothing more than a normal student. I see you are still being controlled by what Dumbledore wants everyone to believe."

Minerva almost burst out again, but she held her tongue. She turned around and stormed out of the room. Umbridge's day definitely got worse. "Mr. Filch?"

Filch came wobbling in, a smile on his face, "And what can I do for you, Dolores?" She smiled. "I would like you to gather the Inquisitorial Squad. Tell them to come up here, okay?" He nodded and went on his way.

Dolores put her hands in her lap. She took another sip of tea and put it down again. 'If it's war he wants,' she thought, 'it's war he'll get.'

* * *

By the time they made it back to the castle, it was dark out. They decided to go up to the hospital wing for a while before going off to bed. In the hospital wing, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny seemed to be slightly uncomfortable. Shikamaru noticed it immediately.

"What do you four need to talk about?" They all jumped slightly. Harry inwardly cursed at Shikamaru's intellect. "Nothing. What would make you think we needed to talk about anything?"

Shikamaru raised his eyes at Ron. "That just told me you do. And there's the simple fact that you three continue to glance at Harry, as if you want him to talk about something."

"It's about getting rid of Umbridge." The three shinobi nodded. They figured it would be something like that. "So, what's your plan?"

Harry shifted and cleared his throat. "Well, that's what I need to tell all of you." Everyone listened more intently.

"I'm going to lure Voldemort to Hogwarts to scare her away. It'll also tell the ministry that he's truly back." It was deathly silent. Everyone's faces had paled at the thought of intentionally luring Voldemort to a place where he could kill hundreds of people.

"You're mad!" Ron was staring at him, eyes wide and mouth open. "What'll keep him from killing everyone off? What'll stop him from destroying Hogwarts?"

Harry kept a straight face. "It's the only w-" "Don't you dare say it's the only way! He could've killed Hermione! And you want to bring him back here where he could kill anyone? You've lost it!"

"We don't have to do it right away. We can plan it out for the end of the year. This way, we'll be able to stop him from killing everybody." "Sorry Harry, this isn't going to work out. I'm not going to let you do this." Ron stood up and walked over to Harry. "If you try to do this, I won't be afraid to tell somebody about your little plan."

Harry nodded. "Fine. Then I'll lure him by myself to somewhere near Hogwarts. Then, I can run back to the castle, or have someone do it for me, and warn everyone he's back."

"We'll be there. You won't be alone." Harry smiled at the three shinobi. "Well, it is your job, isn't it?" They grinned. Harry looked over at Ginny and Hermione. They both held the same looks: fear. "If you don't want to do it, then don't. I understand why you don't want to help, and it's fine by me."

Hermione and Ginny both nodded in relief, though secretly, they both would want to help in something like that. Ron was the only one completely against it.

"You people are all mad! When he kills you all, I'm going to laugh!" Hermione stared at him, shocked at what he just said. "Ronald!" He ignored her and stormed out of the hospital wing, just as Madam Pomfery was re-entering. "My goodness, what happened?"

"It's nothing. Sorry, Pomfery-san." Her face melted at the apology. "Oh, it's alright, Mr. Uzumaki."

She waltzed over to her door before she suddenly realized something. She turned around, her face turning livid. "It is way past visiting hours. Back to your dormitories at once!"

Everyone sped towards the door, minus Hermione of course. They were gone within seconds. Madam Pomfery sighed and looked over and Hermione. "I really wonder how you can put up with them."

She smiled. "Well, I just ignore their problems and stick to how kind they are. It seems to work. Most of the time." Madam Pomfery smiled and went into her office, putting the lights out with a swish of her wand.

* * *

The place they were currently staying at was grim and smelled awful. Michio was sure there were dead animals under the building. It was a small, old house that had three rooms. They were in what was supposed to be the living room, but it could only fit a small chair. Then, there was a bathroom and a small kitchen. The idea was whoever lived there was to sleep in the living room. Somehow.

Currently, Voldemort was not there. Only Zetsu and Michio could be found in the house. Well, there was the dead Evelyn outside, too, but she didn't count because she was dead. Michio was seething at the fact that Sakura had beaten him. He was sure to give her hell when he saw her again.

"Oy, did the dumbass who got herself killed kill Sasuke?" Zetsu seemed to smile at that. "No."

"Good, that means he's still alive. I mean, if she had killed him, that would mean I was stronger than she was since she's always lost to me." Michio smiled triumphantly until he saw Zetsu's grin grow. "Let me guess, you killed him."

The grin that was on his face confirmed the statement. Michio slammed his fist on the arm of the chair. "Dammit! And I really wanted to kill him, too."

"You should know,** he was about to kill her when we entered.**" Michio's anger grew. "Then I'll have to train. I'm going to go out right now!"

He pushed his way around Zetsu and stumbled over something on the floor. By the time he finally got out, Zetsu was hiding a smirk. Michio looked around him. They were in a clearing of a forest. It was actually a quite pleasant place. If Michio wasn't so angry, he might have enjoyed looking around.

'If Sasuke really was about to kill her, it means she really did use that injection. Heh, the _almost_ victory was practically given to him! Pathetic.' Michio grabbed his katana and sliced strait through a tree branch. He did this in milliseconds. 'I like my chances against the rest of them.'

Zetsu watched, slightly amused, from the one window in the house. He heard a pop next to him. Without looking to see who the newcomer was, he said, "You're back."

Voldemort crashed into the chair, an annoyed look on his face. "They won't help! I went all the way to your world to talk to your organization, and they said you were the only person they would send to help!"

Zetsu knew that was coming. Leader-sama had picked him to help and specifically said he was the only one to be sent. Zetsu really could care less if he was the only one or not.

"Where are Evelyn and Michio?" "Michio is outside practicing. **Evelyn is dead."** Voldemort wasn't surprised in the slightest by this. "She was pretty worthless anyway. She failed in all the other missions I sent her on. Well, besides capturing the mudblood and possessing Harry for me. Otherwise, she was totally worthless."

Voldemort suddenly began laughing hysterically. When Michio heard the laughter, he shook his head, believing Zetsu was just having another one of his 'moments'.

"I can't believe I let someone so weak into my army! I crack myself up." Zetsu rose his eyebrow. He decided to say nothing, even though Voldemort had just begun laughing his head off again.

There was a sudden knock on the door that startled Voldemort out of his crazy laughter. His mouth went back to it's normal thin line and he said, "Enter."

"Dark Lord, I am truly sorry. I have been deceived." Voldemort looked at Rowle, a frown quickly forming on his face. "And by who have you been deceived?"

"Severus Snape." Voldemort snorted at that. "Severus Snape is currently at Hogwarts gathering intel from not only Dumbledore, but the Order of the Phoenix as well. How could he deceive anyone where he is now?" Rowle seemed to pale slightly from that. "Then, someone must have made themselves look like him in order to make me believe it was Snape."

"Disgusting." With that, Voldemort pulled out his wand, pointed it at Rowle, who was attempting to shield himself, and said, "Crucio!" Rowle withered in pain, screaming from the agony. Zetsu was recording this, since it was pretty interesting.

After a few seconds, Voldemort stopped the spell. Rowle was panting on the ground, having lost all of his energy. "Tell the rest of the Death Eaters that this is what will happen when you do something so stupid."

Rowle took that as initiative to leave. He stood up, swaying slightly and apparated away.

* * *

Ron was completely avoiding everyone the next day. During breakfast, he ate at the end of the table where no one else sat. Harry wished Ron wouldn't hate him for his plan, but he understood. It was a pretty insane idea.

"Cheer up." Harry looked over at Naruto, who had a small smile on his face. "He'll fight in the end, trust me. I do have to say, though, your plan is pretty sketchy right now. Shikamaru was giving us all sorts of ideas on how to make it work more smoothly."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to stop by the hospital wing and talk to Hermione for a bit. I'll probably do it during lunch, since we haven't exactly been to classes in two days."

When breakfast was done, they went to their first class, which just had to be potions. It went horribly. Snape was being very unreasonable and told Harry that because he hadn't been there in the last class, he automatically received no credit for this class. He also gave the three ninja failing grades on the last essay, even though they had both Shikamaru and Sakura look over Naruto's.

After the class finally ended, they had to go to defense against the dark arts. Harry was itching to stand up and strangle Umbridge.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Uzumaki, Ms. Haruno, and Mr. Nara, what a pleasant surprise! You had been gone for quite some time! Oh, and you too, Mr. Weasley." She looked over at Ron who was on the other side of the room. He did not look happy. "Where's Ms. Granger?"

Sakura took initiative to speak before Harry said something. "She's in the hospital wing recuperating."

Umbridge made a face to make her appear sad about this. "Oh, the poor girl. I hope she recovers soon." Harry was shaking. He was holding his anger in, though it was making desperate attempts to leak out.

The rest of the class went boringly. When it was over, Harry was the first person out of the room. It was time for lunch, and he wanted to get to Hermione quickly.

He opened the door and barged right in. Madam Pomfery jumped before her eyes narrowed. "Mr. Potter, do not barge into this room. There could be patients sleeping!"

Harry realized that Hermione was fast asleep. "Sorry, Madam Pomfery." She clicked her tongue and went into her office. Hermione almost instantly opened her eyes. "Thank God it's you and not Ron."

Harry gave her a questioning look. "I don't want to see him after what he said yesterday." She sat up, ignoring Harry's protests. "Madam Pomfery said I could leave tonight."

"Look, Hermione, I know you don't really agree with my idea anymore than Ron does, but I need your help." Hermione sighed. She knew this was coming. "I already thought about it."

That took Harry by surprise. She laughed. "Do you really think I'd just sit here all morning doing nothing?" Harry shook his head.

"We need a teacher to teach us defense against the dark arts. Well, we need a proper teacher. We need you." Harry stared at her, giving her a ridiculous look. "You want **me** to teach you DADA?"

"Well, not only me. I'm going to invite some people and we are going to have a meeting during the next Hogsmeade trip." Harry still didn't like the idea at all.

"Don't worry, you'll be an amazing teacher." Harry shook his head. "Won't you at least think about it?"

Harry sighed. "Fine. I'll think about it." Hermione beamed. "Good. We need to find a place to practice."

"Hang on a second, you already want to find a place to practice when I haven't even said yes yet?" Her smile said it all. "You really think I'm going to say yes, don't you?"

"When you think about it, if we don't learn this, then when you do lure V-voldemort here, then we won't be able to fight very well against anyone he may bring." Harry understood the logic in that, but he still didn't know...

"Just think about it. And you might want to got get lunch; it's almost over." He nodded and said goodbye. Unknown to anyone in the room, three people had been listening in on the conversation. They all agreed it was the best thing to do. And one of them already knew exactly where they were going to practice.

* * *

Yay! Dumbledore's army has begun! Oh, please don't ask about his idea to bring Voldemort to Hogwarts. I'll explain more later. If you can guess the real reason he's doing something like that, I'll dedicate a chapter to you!

Oh, one more thing, I'm fixing all the mistakes in the earlier chapters and changing a couple of things, but it won't change the story line. And I'm going on a trip all next week and I won't have access to a computer. I know, it's devastating. I don't know how I'll survive! I will get the next chapter up the week after, though! Bye-bye!


	18. Chapter 18

This chapter is dedicated to the greatest art teacher, Tennis coach, and friend in the world, Zimmer.

* * *

Chapter 18

Dinner that night was fairly quiet. Umbridge was up in the headmaster's chair smiling sickly down at the students, who continuously glanced up at her. Harry was picking at his food, only bringing his fork up every minute or so. Ron was eating slower than usual, but he was also glaring at Harry every chance he could.

Hermione had been released and was sitting next to Harry, muttering some spells he could teach them. Finally, he had enough and let his fork fall on his plate. "Look, Hermione, I know you think I'm going to say yes to this, but I need some time to think, alright? Could you tell me these things later?"

Hermione sighed. "Alright. I've gotten quite a few people interested, though." When she said that, Harry nearly slapped her. "Why are you already telling people when I haven't even said yes yet?"

A few surrounding students looked at them before continuing their hushed dinner. Hermione sighed and answered in a whisper, "Don't worry, they're all people you know and people who won't say anything."

Harry stood and left the Great Hall, a few looks greeting him. None of those looks seemed to be nice looks. The second he was out of sight, he started running up to the common room. He would normally run outside, but the dark clouds and bucket fulls of rain said he should stay inside. Someone very familiar greeted him just outside the common room.

"What are you doing here, Shikamaru?" The Nara stretched his sore muscles before answering. "Naruto and Sakura sent me. They want me to talk to you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Want to let me in the common room?" Shikamaru sighed before letting the boy-who-lived in. Harry stormed passed him and fell onto his favorite chair. Shikamaru lazily sat on the couch.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Shikamaru sighed before beginning. "First, Sakura wants to know how you are taking Ron's... detachment from you guys."

Harry snorted. "I had guessed he wouldn't take it so well. He'll come through in the end. He always does." Harry's voice got a bit distant at the end of his sentence. Obviously, he was not so sure Ron would come back this time.

"Alright. The second thing is something we probably shouldn't know about yet, but we overheard you and Hermione talking about-" Harry jumped up, an enraged look on his face.

"That is all she ever talks about! Just the fact that she can't shut up about it is making me want to say no more and more! I know it is what has to be done if we really do do the whole plan, but I'd rather she didn't take a leap of faith and start recruiting people! It only pisses me off!" Shikamaru knew that was coming.

"I know. I get why you are so upset about something like this. The thing is, all three of us would like to teach you the basics of hand-to-hand combat, if you do say yes. This way, you'll have a way to fight if you lose your wands during a battle."

Harry seemed to calm down a bit, which made Shikamaru talk more. "If you say no to the idea of teaching students Defense Against the Dark Arts, then we will only teach you, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny." At the sound of Ron's name, Harry looked away.

"I'll do it." Shikamaru was caught off guard. He wasn't expecting Harry to give in that easily. "Okay then. I already have a place for us to work, so whenever you have everybody, we'll begin."

Before Harry could ask where this place was, Shikamaru left the common room.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were sitting in a very large room that resembled a dojo in Konoha. Of course, they were in the Room of Requirement. They were awaiting Shikamaru so they could find out if Harry said yes.

"Are you positive he'll say yes Sakura-chan?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "If he has what Hermione says he has, he'll say yes."

The door opened suddenly, Shikamaru slowly walking into the room. "Did he say he'll do it?" Shikamaru nodded and sat on a cushion to the side of the room. The other ninja smiled.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Shikamaru sighed and got comfortable before answering. "We have to figure out what to teach them. All we really need to teach them is how to block and attack with hand-to-hand combat. I would have said taijutsu, but you need chakra doing lots of taijutsu."

"Well," Sakura began, "Let's make a list of things, and when they complete an exercise, then we'll move on to the next thing on the list." Naruto and Shikamaru nodded.

"You two will have to teach them because I'm not all that good with hand-to-hand combat." Naruto and Sakura nodded. Then, Naruto added to the conversation. "Are we going to learn from Harry too?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment. "I think it would be a good idea if we did. That way, we can blend in easier when the fight actually comes. Or, at least I can. You two will probably need to change your hair color to blend in better." Sakura nodded. Naruto wasn't as happy. "But a lot of people here have blonde hair!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Look, your hair sticks up and is a lot brighter. Once someone sees you, it'll be hard to blend in again. Just do it when the time comes."

Shikamaru finally took in his surroundings. "So this is what you came up with?" Naruto nodded. "It made the most sense. If we are going to be training for a big battle, what better place to do it than a dojo?"

"I can't believe it. You actually thought of something smart for once in your life." Naruto put on a puppy dog face. "Oh, Sakura-chan, you're so mean!"

They all laughed for the first time in a while. They surprised themselves at the sound coming out of their mouthes. Stopping abruptly, the ninja began figuring out the most basic moves to dodge, block, and counter attacks.

For hours, they came up with a decent sized list. They hid it under one of the cushions at the side of the room. Finally, they realized that it was nearly midnight and they needed to get back to the Common Room three hours ago if they didn't want to get caught. Luckily, they encountered no one on their way back.

* * *

Harry groggily woke up the next morning. He yawned and stretched. He did not want to get up. Thankfully, it was finally Saturday. Next week was a Hogsmeade weekend, which probably met that Hermione would want them to go to talk about the D.A.D.A training.

Harry dragged himself out of bed to see that everyone else had already gone down to breakfast. A look at his watch told him breakfast started a half hour ago.

He hurried out of his pajamas and into more comfortable clothes. He then ran down the stairs and hurried to the Great Hall. It was still quieter than normal, but people were moving around a bit more than dinner the previous night. He found Hermione and went to her. He quickly sat down and saw that Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura were no where to be seen.

"Where are Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura?" Hermione swallowed a piece of toast and said, "They left a while ago. They said they need to keep up with their training."

Harry nodded and dug into his food. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron look at him and glare. Harry ignored it and continued eating. He was hungrier than he thought.

Hermione sighed. She knew Ron was still upset about the idea of luring Voldemort to the school, but she was hoping he would get over it and realize that it really was the only way. If he shows up in person, it will convince everyone he's back.

She stood and walked over to Ron to smack him on the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"You are being unreasonable! He's just trying to get everyone on our side again!" With that, she walked away, heading to the one place she could find peace in: the library.

* * *

On the outskirts of the forbidden forest, Naruto and Sakura were trying out the hand-to-hand combat they had come up with. Shikamaru was observing them. They were making sure it wasn't too harsh for people who depend on a stick to save them.

"I don't think we should teach them that one. It might actually leave a bruise on some of them." Naruto stared at her like she was crazy. "Sakura-chan, it's a good thing if it'll leave a bruise on their opponents. That way, they might actually hurt them."

She shook her head. "I didn't mean hurt their opponent, I meant their hands. The only way I would recommend that one is if they are protecting their hands somehow. If they manage to get their wands back, then they'll need the use of their hands to hold it."

Naruto stared for a second more before finally understanding. "Ohhhh, I get it. Yeah, that does make sense." Sakura shook her head before asking Shikamaru, "What one is next?"

"Headlock."

Sakura wasted no time in running forward and putting him in a headlock. Naruto struggled for a moment before giving up. "This is getting too easy, Naruto. Make it more difficult."

Naruto smiled and disappeared with a poof. Sakura smirked. "That's more like it."

She sensed his chakra in three different places. She ran for the closest and tackled him, putting his hands behind his back and holding them. The clone poofed from existence.

She sensed one coming in from behind her, so she waited for a second more before reaching behind her and flipped him over her shoulder. She pinned his arms above him. He blushed madly at the position of her body on his. "Caught you, Naruto-_kun_."

Naruto blushed a deeper crimson much to Sakura's satisfaction. She heard a small sound signaling that the other clone had dispersed. Sakura stood up, letting Naruto stand. His face still hadn't quite recovered from what had just taken place.

"Alright, lovebirds, should we keep going or practice our jutsu?" The other two blushed and mumbled, "Jutsu."

Naruto created around fifty clones for them to attack. Naruto changed his appearance so they wouldn't attack the real one. Then, they began the barrage.

Shikamaru saw five clones try to sneak up on him. He closed his eyes for a moment and then smirked. They all stopped and felt the air begin to be taken from them. Shadows were around their necks and squeezing every bit of air out of them. They dispersed.

Sakura smiled when ten clones came at her. She pushed chakra into her fist and yelled, "Shannaro!" The impact of the punch to the ground broke the ground up, forcing the clones to trip and make themselves disappear. The three that kept their ground were punched quickly, before they realized what was going on.

Naruto stood around and watched his friends fight. Then, one of the clones spoke up. "Hey, lets get the real Naruto, guys!" The 35 left ran towards Naruto at full speed. The real Naruto's eye twitched at the upcoming barrage. His hands went to his favorite seal. There was a small poof next to him. He put his hand out towards the one clone on his side and the rasengan was formed.

"Sorry guys, I have to make sure I don't get rusty." He ran at them yelling, "Rasengan!"

Naruto ran through all of the clones causing them all to disperse into smoke. Sakura and Shikamaru were sitting on a tree stump laughing about something as Naruto finished. When he did, the other shinobi stood. Shikamaru yawned and stretched. "We should probably get back and finish our homework."

On their way back, they noticed that everyone was wearing jackets over their normal clothes. Some of them were also wearing gloves. It was at that time that the Shinobi realized it was starting to get pretty cold out.

"Does that mean winter is coming?" Sakura and Shikamaru both rolled their eyes. "Yes, Naruto, that means winter is coming."

The rest of the way back, Naruto was much more excited and happy. Shikamaru left them at the entrance saying he needed to look something up in the library. Sakura and Naruto highly doubted this since he barely ever did work. They decided that they would finish up the homework they owed.

They finally made it to the common room. After running upstairs to their room, they sat on their beds and started on it. They did a long essay from Snape first, followed by another long essay from McGonagall.

By the time Naruto was halfway through the second essay, Sakura stopped him because it was time for lunch. Shikamaru hadn't showed up the whole time they were doing homework. When they went downstairs, they saw Ron with Dean and Seamus. The second Ron saw them, he stopped talking and glared. Seamus followed suit when he saw who it was. Dean, however, seemed uncomfortable. Saying nothing, the shinobi left the common room and walked to the Great Hall.

Lunch had only just begun when they arrived. They were among the first students there. Shikamaru had a few books on the table when they sat down. He was pretty immersed in a book called 'The Dark Times in Wizard History'. They sat in silence for a moment before Shikamaru sighed and muttered, "Troublesome."

He shut the book and pushed it away from him. He glanced a Naruto before gathering the books and putting them in a bag. The Great Hall was filling quickly. Food appeared and everyone dug in. More people, who were obviously not paying attention to time, showed up later. The shinobi ate in silence before Hermione and Harry sat down next to them.

"We are going to be meeting at the Hog's Head next weekend when we go to Hogsmeade. It's a quieter place so we won't be heard as easily." Shikamaru sighed. "Pick a more crowded place."

Hermione looked shocked. "But we could be overheard a lot easier if it's more crowded!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe how stupid wizards could be. "The more crowded, the less likely you are to be heard. People will be talking a lot louder and it won't be suspicious if a whole ton of people show up there. It would be suspicious in an uncrowded place."

Hermione said nothing else the rest of lunch. Shikamaru left soon after saying he was going back to the library. Sakura dragged Naruto away from the food because Hermione seemed like she wanted to talk to Harry about something. Naruto, of course, wasn't happy that he was dragged away.

* * *

Hermione cleared her throat, startling Harry. "What?" She ignored the comment and stared at him. He got a confused look on his face. After a moment more, Hermione sighed. "I am not good at staring people down."

Harry laughed. Hermione had actually wanted him to laugh about something to make sure he was still the same guy. Hermione's smile disappeared when Umbridge walked in. The whole place got silent. She was smiling as she walked up to the front of the Great Hall. She turned around when she got there.

"Hem, Hem." Everyone stared at the toad woman in front of them. Her smile grew. "The Hogsmeade visit for next week has been cancelled due to problems in the village."

The hall erupted into shouts and yells. No one was happy about their change in plans. Especially Hermione. Amidst the chaos, she ran out of the Great Hall, dragging Harry with her. When they made it to the Owlery, she turned around and hit the wall next to his head. "She found out! This is horrible! It's like she's got spies all around the castle! Now how are we going to get everyone to know are idea!"

Harry was surprised at just how angry she was. Hermione was definitely upset about what happened. "We'll just tell everyone where to go for the firs meeting."

"We don't know where that place is!" Harry put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down. We do know where it is. It's called the Room of Requirement."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Thank you, Harry." She hugged him tightly. He patted her on the back, since he really didn't know what else to do.

"Where did you here about this place?" Hermione let go of him as she asked this. "Shikamaru told me about it. It sounds like the perfect place. It will change the room based on what you want it to become. He said they were making it identical to a dojo back where they came from."

"A dojo, huh? That's an idea. For what we have planned, that would work perfectly." Harry nodded. "Then let's go to it."

They wandered over to the seventh floor. After walked three times in front of the wall, a door appeared. They opened the door to find a very elegant room that had wood flooring. The walls were white with pictures all over them. They walked over to the pictures to see all sorts of people in them. Two of the people in one picture were hugging and crying passionately while the other two people in the picture were practically rolling their eyes.

"I see you've found our dojo." They turned to see Shikamaru carrying books. Hermione's face lit up at the sight. "What books did you borrow from the library?"

"Mostly things on wizard history. I'm trying to confirm something." Hermione was instantly excited. She looked ready to jump up and down. Harry found a cushion to sit on while they absorbed everything in the books. He didn't understand why reading was so exciting. It just bored him to death.

After around an hour, the door opened. Naruto and Sakura walked in. Sakura was surprised to see Harry and Hermione. "You two found the place, thats good."

"What are you two doing here?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto was the one to answer. "Oh, we were just hoping to spar each other." They walked over to the main part of he dojo. This is when Harry got interested. Once they began, however, Harry was totally blown away. They were moving at speeds Harry only wished he could match.

Sakura was going easy with the punches. Se didn't want to cheat by adding chakra to her punches. Naruto was actually a bit disappointed. He wanted there to be a challange. Then again, it was probably best if the room wasn't destroyed.

Punch after punch was administered. Harry hadn't blinked in over a minute just to try to see what was going on. Then, one finally connected. Naruto went flying backwards after a blow to the stomach. He got right back up and attacked more ferociously.

Sakura was actually surprised that he was attacking harder than before. 'Well, if he's going to be like that...' The next punch Sakura threw grazed Naruto's shoulder. He felt the pain of chakra hitting him. He pouted. "Got you."

"Fine, you win." Sakura smiled. Naruto, on the other hand, was not happy by the defeat. They went over to where the others were. Sakura asked the question on everyone's minds. "What are you trying to find in there, Shikamaru?"

He stared at the page for a moment longer before looking at Sakura. "Can I talk to you for a second? Privately?" She was confused, but followed him to the other side of the dojo. Shikamaru talked for around 30 seconds before Sakura fell to her knees. Naruto was about to run over there, but Hermione held him back and shook her head.

Shikamaru continued to talk. Suddenly, sobbing was reverberating through the room. Naruto was getting more and more worried by the second. Shikamaru knelt by her and rubbed her back. He was acting very strange. They stayed over there for another moment or two before Shikamaru helped Sakura up. They came back over to the other side of the room.

Naruto was released and he ran over to Sakura. "What's wrong? What did he tell you?" Sakura looked up at Naruto with so much sadness in her eyes. He didn't understand what would make her look that way. Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"I think we should talk."

* * *

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for not updating in over a month. I feel horrible about it. I have been on vacation a lot and my art teacher at school passed away. It hasn't been the greatest summer and I haven't had much motivation. I realize this chapter is short, but the next will be longer. I just didn't want you to have to wait any longer for this chapter. I really am sorry. Thank you for reading.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Harry and Hermione were walking back towards the common room. They escorted themselves out of the Room of Requirement, since the air seemed to have tensed.

"What do you think he found?" Harry asked Hermione. She bit her lip. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. Shikamaru seemed petrified at what he learned. I'm sure he pieced something else together as well. He seemed more upset than he should have been."

Harry seemed slightly annoyed at the lack of an answer, but he decided he would ask them later. They turned a corner and ran right into Ron and Seamus.

Everyone froze and stared at each other. Ron and Seamus were glaring at Harry and he was glaring back. "Honestly!"

They jumped slightly at Hermione's voice. The three wizards looked at her. "Would you guys just make up already? I'm sick of this stupid fight!" She walked around Seamus and went strait for the common room.

Seamus looked at Harry for a second more before deciding to leave as well. He stopped and looked back at Ron to see if he was coming. When he didn't move, Seamus left.

Ron nervously looked up at Harry and quickly diverted his gaze. Harry slowly walked up to Ron and stopped in front of him. Ron looked up. Harry grinned at him. Ron grinned back. "So, are we going to stop fighting?"

Ron thought for a moment before nodding. "I still don't like your idea. If anyone dies, it's on you." Harry nodded. He figured that was coming. "So, are you doing the whole D.A.D.A training?"

Harry nodded again. "Are you going to join? You'll be able to learn a couple of things from the ninja." Ron smiled. "Of course I'm joining. What are they going to teach us?"

"Basic self defense in case we lose our wands during a battle." Ron laughed. "But if the enemy has a wand, we are pretty much dead."

Ron's words were right. But... "I think they'll be teaching us how to dodge stuff and get their wands from them too." Realization appeared on Ron's face. "That makes more sense."

They both looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. "It's good to be friends again!"

They both talked the rest of the way to the common room. When they entered, they were greeted by Hermione. She looked at them for a second before muttering, "Boys" and walked towards the girls dormitory. Harry and Ron looked at each other and started laughing again. Everything that happened in the Room of Requirement was out of Harry's mind.

It was not out of the mind of the shinobi.

* * *

"What did you find out? What did you tell Sakura-chan that made her start crying? Tell me!" Naruto was never one to be patient. He was getting very angry at Shikamaru for taking so long to tell him.

Shikamaru was having a bit of trouble on figuring out how to tell Naruto about what he found out. His mind was currently working on overdrive. He took in a big breath of air and let it out before beginning.

"I read something in a book I borrowed yesterday. That brought a lot of questions to the surface. I borrowed more books to try to find out if what I thought was true, and I found out that it was."

"Around 180 years ago, a team of three shinobi came to the wizarding world to help the wizards with a battle. They saved thousands of people: wizards and muggles alike. Five years had passed and their mission was complete. One of the ninja stayed behind to make sure nothing else happened."

"That ninja ended up falling in love with a witch. He obviously hid his identity and went by the last name of 'Riddle'." There was a pause. Naruto was totally confused. Shikamaru cleared his throat and continued on. "Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle. That ninja is an ancestor of Voldemort."

Naruto's eyes went wide. Then, he got confused again. "Why would that make Sakura-chan cry, though?" Shikamaru sighed again. He really wished this were anything but true.

"Naruto, that ancestor is Sakura's father, Kenshin Haruno." Naruto got even more confused. "But Sakura-chan's dad wasn't even alive then!"

Shikamaru closed his eyes for a moment. "I sent a letter to Tsunade-sama and asked if there were ever any other shinobi sent to the wizarding world. Thirteen years ago, a team of shinobi was sent there. There is a huge time difference there. Their years seem to go by faster than our's." Understanding was shone on Naruto's face.

"Why hasn't Voldemort ever shone any ninja abilities then?" Shikamaru had already figured this out. "He isn't aware of his heritage. He only knows that his father was a muggle, Tom Riddle, and his mother was a witch. He doesn't know anything past that. Also, Sakura's father kept the fact that he was a ninja completely secret. He knew a technique that could change your DNA to make you look totally different. He made himself look like a normal muggle."

"Because he doesn't know of his heritage, the ninja part of him is dormant. The only way he could ever tap into it is if someone showed him how to. I don't think that Michio knows any of this, so Voldemort won't be gaining chakra anytime soon."

Naruto was totally shocked at what he just learned. Still, Shikamaru had more to say. "Also, I am pretty sure that an Akatsuki member is with him." Naruto went still.

"Why would you say that?" Sakura asked. She was starting to get control of herself. Her father had been marked as K.I.A. a while ago. "I say that because Michio was there. I get the feeling that a lot of Orochimaru's forces tried joining the Akatsuki after his death. Some were successful, but they are merely extra people in there forces. They were being built up for battles. That means, there is one true Akatsuki with Voldemort. If I had to guess, I'd say it is Zetsu."

Naruto and Sakura were both surprised at Shikamaru's analyses of the situation. He wasn't known as one of the smartest ninja in Konoha for nothing. "Why do you think it's Zetsu?"

"Well, for one, he is very good at recording things. Many people have witnessed him at battles. He also seems to be the Akatsuki's lookout person. I felt his chakra once during a battle." Naruto was looking at the ground. "This means that he's after me, right?"

Sakura looked at him sadly. Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, it's most likely that he's after you." Naruto looked up and smiled. "Then I'll just have to beat him to a pulp!"

Sakura shook her head. "You will never change, will you?" "Nope!"

Shikamaru wasn't smiling. "Naruto, I know you think you can beat him, but he is powerful. I also get the feeling he was the one to kill Sasuke."

Both Sakura's and Naruto's breaths hitched slightly. They looked to opposite sides of the room. "I know it's hard to talk about him, but we are talking about someone who killed Sasuke Uchiha. You need to- "

"Don't tell me that I need to do! I know my limits and what I can and can't do!" Shikamaru let out a long sigh. "Naruto, we need to get someone to teach you. We need someone to teach us all. We need to get Michio on our side."

Sakura was the first to yell in protest. "Do you really think he'd ever help us? He was trying to beat Sasuke for the longest time possible! You are completely insane! He's on Voldemort's side!"

"Do you think I don't know that? I know it's a long shot, but Tsunade-sama can't afford to send another person on this mission. Konoha is currently under attack by a large rogue ninja group that calls themselves 'Koyama'."

"And you didn't tell us this earlier because?" Sakura wasn't happy with the way Shikamaru was acting. "Tsunade-sama requested that I told you at an appropriate time. She meant that I told you when you weren't going to kill anything and when we were already deep in conversation."

Naruto shook his head. "Konoha is under attack while we are here trying to do all sorts of crazy things that will probably get people killed. We aren't helping our village when they need it most. Why did we become ninja if this is what is happening?"

Sakura and Shikamaru were slightly taken aback by what he just said. That was the most morose thing that he had ever said. It was very unlike Naruto to say anything like that at any time ever. "We became ninja to protect people and keep them safe. We also became ninja to protect those we love."

Naruto understood what Sakura was saying. That was his idea on why. "The problem is, we also became ninja to protect the village we love. We are here pretty much provoking people to kill others. This isn't what we would be doing in Konoha. We would be trying to save our village and the people in it."

Shikamaru sighed. "Okay, this conversation is getting a bit out of hand. Let's end it here." Sakura nodded, though reluctantly. Naruto just walked out.

"Naruto..." Sakura watched him walk out and slam the door behind him. "He'll get back to normal soon. Don't worry, Sakura." She whipped her head around. "Yeah, no thanks to you."

Sakura followed in Naruto's footsteps and slammed the door behind her as well. Shikamaru sat and sighed. "Why does this have to be happening?"

* * *

Michio had just mastered a jutsu he had been working on for a very long time. It was actually one of Sasuke's jutsu, Chidori Nagashi. Michio's second nature element was lightning, his first being earth. A strange combination, but he had made it to his advantage. Most people wouldn't think he had lightning as his second if his first was earth.

He unsheathed his sword and held it straight in front of him. "Chidori Nagashi!" Lightning flew all around him and sliced the training dummy into eight different pieces. Michio smirked and walked over to their small residence. Luckily, they had found a larger, more suitable place close to their current location.

"Looks like Michio finally mastered it. **Sure took him long enough.**" Michio's anger rose slightly, but he continued to walk. "It's still not as good as Sasuke's was. **Sasuke's was ten times more powerful. He could shoot it over ten feet around him. **Michio's can only go five feet."

Michio lunged for Zetsu, but Zetsu moved out of the way just in time for Michio to hit the ground. Michio jumped up and ran for him again. Zetsu teleported away and left Michio standing in the middle of the clearing like an idiot. "Damn you, Zetsu!"

Meanwhile, Zetsu had teleported to Voldemort. Well, it was more that Voldemort had summoned Zetsu to him. "Yes, Voldemort? **What do you want?**" Voldemort glared at him.

"I want you to tell you're leader that I need more shinobi in three months so I can train them. He didn't listen to me, so maybe he'll listen to you." Zetsu shook his head. "If Leader-sama said he couldn't send anyone else, **then that means he can not send anyone else.**" This made Voldemort go into a rage.

"I AM THE GREAT LORD VOLDEMORT! HE WILL GIVE ME MORE NINJA TO HELP ME!" Zetsu was not fazed by his outburst. "He doesn't care **who you are**."

Voldemort grabbed him and threw him across the room. It wasn't a far toss, but it still hurt. The shear amount of force that he threw Zetsu at was incredible.

"HE WILL LEARN HIS PLACE!" Voldemort disapparated. Zetsu stood up and wiped the dust that had fallen on him off. He guessed that Voldemort went back to the bridge between their two worlds to talk to Leader-sama again. Hopefully, they wouldn't get so mad at each other that they needed to fight. Zetsu doubted they could maim each other that badly. The bridge between the worlds had a strong barrier.

Zetsu smirked and went to go watch Michio attempt to make his new jutsu go further.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found each other at dinner. For the first time in a while, they sat together and ate. They were a bit worried that they hadn't seen the shinobi for a while, but they were happy to be together after such a long time. Ginny found them a bit after and sat too. Finally, Hermione whispered something to the rest of them.

"Seeing as Hogsmeade was cancelled, I guess we'll have to figure out another way to have everyone meet." Harry came out with an answer instantly. "Why don't we just have them all go to the Room of Requirement?"

Hermione smiled. "Brilliant! We're telling those who know that that's where we will be meeting." Ron and Ginny were surprised at how quickly that question was answered.

Dinner was over quickly. Everyone was feeling quite full and tired, just like always. On there way back up to the Common Room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran into Sakura. She was sitting on a bench, looking like she wanted to both cry and punch something. Hermione was the one to walk over. She told the other two to leave. They reluctantly did.

Hermione walked to Sakura and sat next to her. Sakura jumped and looked at her. "You alright, Sakura?" Sakura looked at the ground again. "No, I'm not."

She jumped up and punched the wall, collapsing the wall. It seemed her need to punch something had overtaken her need to cry. "Shikamaru's such an idiot!"

Hermione's eyes rose. This was not what she had expected to hear from her. Sakura let out a deep breath and sat again. She seemed to have calmed down slightly. "Why is he an idiot? He just told you guys the truth."

Sakura hid her eyes with her hair. "That's not why he's an idiot." There was silence for a moment before Sakura began again. "Shikamaru told us we needed to try to get Michio to help train us. Shikamaru decided at that moment that he would tell us our village is under attack by a group of rogue ninja. Then Naruto brought his thoughts to light and Shikamaru thought the conversation had gotten out of hand. We're just all scared and upset! He has no right to talk to us like he's in charge!" Sakura jumped up again and threw her fist to the wall next to her previous hole. Another hole was formed.

"I understand that you are upset and scared, but you should cut him a little slack. He's trying to hold you guys together after the loss of your best friend." Sakura shook her head. "That's not it."

"Our Hokage has pretty much put him in charge. I feel like an idiot now! He's been put under so much stress. Naruto and me acting the way we are to him isn't helping matters any. And Shikamaru is probably freaking out about the same things we are right now. God, I feel like an idiot." Hermione was internally cheering that Sakura had figured it out so quickly. "Now you have to go apologize."

Sakura nodded. "I wonder where he is. I bet he still hasn't left the Room of Requirement. He's so lazy..." Hermione smiled softly. Sakura took a deep breath before taking off for the Room of Requirement. Hermione watched her go before suddenly decided a trip to the Library was necessary.

* * *

Harry and Ron were almost at the common room when they ran into Naruto. He was pacing in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, which did not look normal. Ron stood up tall and walked over to him, telling Harry that he had it. Harry didn't believe him, so he hid in the shadows.

"Hey, Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto completely ignored him. Ron finally saw Naruto's face and he took a step back. "Okay, so, now's not the best time to talk to you, is it?"

Once again, Naruto made no sign that he had heard a word Ron had said. Ron looked behind him to see if Harry was still there. Harry stepped out of the shadows and nodded to Ron. Ron looked at him in appreciation and left.

Harry walked right in the path of Naruto. Naruto stopped right before hitting him. "Go away."

Harry didn't budge. Naruto looked at Harry with a fierce glare. Harry wasn't another moment of not moving, Naruto turned around and started to walk away. He walked right into a barrier that Harry had put up. Naruto swung his head around at unimaginable speeds and ran up to Harry. "Take it down."

Harry shook his head. Naruto's breath got louder, showing Harry that he wasn't in the mood for this. Harry didn't do anything. He didn't want Naruto to fall into the same thing that he himself had already experienced. "Naruto, you need to get over whatever you are going through. I know it's hard, but you'll only end up hurting yourself and everyone around you if you continue."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Actually, Harry, I am mad at the world, I'm not going into a depression. So, if you could please remove the barrier, it would be much appreciated."

It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes. "You should know that the first sign to a depression state is being mad at the world. Naruto, I get that your life is probably going through some really tough times right now, but you need friends who will be willing to take you out of the depths that you may fall into."

Naruto smiled. "I already know. I have those friends." Then, he frowned. "I also know that the group of rogue ninja that is currently attacking my village is going to get hell."

Naruto withdrew his wand in milliseconds and disintegrated the barrier. Harry was shocked that id disappeared so quickly and that it was Naruto who did all of that. When Harry finally came back to his senses, Naruto was long gone.

Harry shook his head to get his thoughts back in place. He went up to the Fat Lady and said the password. Her answer: "Well, he's your twin in behavior."

* * *

Ron was getting annoyed that he couldn't make it back to the common room. He just wanted to go in and sleep. He was just glad that tomorrow was Sunday. There was still one more day to sleep in. He turned a corner and ran into...Neville.

"At least you're not Shikamaru. I think I've dealt with enough ninjas for one day." Neville had no clue what he was talking about. "What ninjas, Ron?"

Ron suddenly felt very daft. "Uh, no ninjas, Neville. It was a slip of the tongue, that's all." Neville just shrugged his shoulders and started stroking his strange looking plant.

"Uh, Neville, what is that?" Neville looked up at Ron to see a look of disgust. "Mimbulus mimbletonia! I told you at the beginning of the year!"

Ron looked at Neville strangely. "You did?"

Neville shook his head and said goodbye. After Neville walked away, Ron started walking to the closest shortcut that would get him back towards the common room. When he got there, he went behind the tapestry and stopped in his tracks.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Ginny and Dean jumped apart at the interruption. When Ginny saw who it was, she rolled her eyes and grabbed Dean's face. The snogging begin.

Ron ran forward and ripped them apart. He grabbed Ginny by the wrist and started pulling her away. "Ron! What are you doing? LET ME GO!" Ginny managed to get out of Ron's grip by kneeing him in the stomach. He doubled over in slight pain.

"He was snogging you! I had to get him away from you!" Ginny looked ready to punch her brother and send him into next week. "Ron, **I** **was the one snogging him!** I don't see why it matters anyway! We are dating!"

Ron was completely bewildered. "Since when did I approve of you dating Dean Thomas?"

"I don't need your approval on people I date! I hate you!" She stormed off in the opposite direction. Ron stood there totally in shock. He could not believe his little sister was dating someone that Ron once was friends with. Now...

"Ron, I thought I heard you yelling over here. Come on, we need to find Naruto before he tries something stupid." Harry said. He started walking before noticing Ron hadn't moved. "Ron? What's wrong?"

Ron snapped out of his daze and said, "Huh?"

Harry blinked a few times before telling him, "Naruto might be trying to get back to the place he came from. He broke my barrier and ran off. I tried talking to him, but his mind was set. I think he's going to try and get back to his village to save it from the people attacking it."

"Wait, there's people attacking their home?" Harry nodded. Ron felt bad for the three ninja. They were helping them while their village was being attacked? They were obviously very strong. Or, at least, two of them were. The other one was very determined to make the world a perfect place by saving everything he could.

"Ron! Harry! Where's Naruto?" They looked over to see Hermione with Sakura and Shikamaru. They didn't look all that happy with each other, but their minds were more focused on their friend.

Harry and Ron walked out to the hall. "First off, how'd you find us... Maraurders map, right?" Hermione nodded and lifted a piece of what appeared to be spare parchment.

"Can't you find him on there?" Hermione handed it to Harry. "You're better at using it than I am."

Harry got his wand out and touched the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Magically, words began appearing on the parchment. Harry opened it and looked everywhere. He spotted Naruto's name at the Room of Requirement. Harry stared for a second before realizing Naruto's plan. His eyes widened and he started running at full speed for the Room of Requirement.

The map had fallen from his hand. The others looked at it. When they got the same realization, they started sprinting as well. This was not going to end well.

* * *

Naruto walked past the famous wall three times and opened his eyes. Nothing had changed. He gritted his teeth and tried again with a different phrase. After the third time, he looked. Once again, nothing changed. Naruto grunted and swapped phrases. After that attempt and failure, he ran over to the wall and kicked it. Even with chakra, it didn't budge.

"Damnit!" Naruto thought of one more phrase that might possibly work. He prayed that this one would work. He kept his eyes closed for another second. When he opened them, he was greeted with the door. He broke out into a big grin.

"I knew it would work!" He walked over and opened the doors. When he walked in, he saw a grand machine. It was in the form of an arch that had glowing light in the middle of the arch. There was a small device next to the arch. Naruto walked over and realized that the letters were in kanji. His grin grew.

He started typing in what he needed to. After clicking enter, he felt power burst out from the arch. There was a creaking noise which Naruto believed was the arch. It did look very old. A loud beep signaled it's completion. Naruto took a deep breath and took a step towards the arch.

"STOP!"

Naruto turned around to see Sakura and Shikamaru. They had been the fastest of all of them. Naruto turned his head back around to the arch. Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"Naruto, if you go through this device, when you come back, it will be a long time in the future. This world advances much faster than our world. It may only be a year in our world, but it would be thirty in this world. We have been gone for three months. It's only been a few days in our world. You can't do this!" Naruto looked torn between going or staying. Sakura decided it was her turn.

"Naruto, we all feel the same. We all want to go back and help, but Tsunade-sama is there. She can protect the village. Not to mention Kakashi-sensai and all the other great Jonin. Your help is needed here!" The golden trio just entered, completely out of breath. Ron spoke in between his heaves. "Naruto don't go!(gasp for air) We need your help!"

Naruto looked at the arch then back at his friends. Once more, he repeated the movement. "Sorry, guys."

* * *

Dun, dun, dun! Did he go or stay? Will he really leave his friends to go save his village for old times sake? Do you think I'm just about the meanest author ever for taking forever to update and leaving yet another cliffy? Do you think I have the ability to post a chapter in less than a month? These questions and more will be answered later. For now, please read and review!

One more thing. THANK YOU FOR 100 REVIEWS! XD


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 (YAY!)

Darkness enveloped the cave that went deep into the mountain. At the end of the cave was a man hunched over a table, searching in an old, worn out book. Another man came out of a door next to the table. He handed the sitting man a cup of what was presumably tea. The sitting man accepted the cup and continued to pour over the book.

"When do you plan on returning?" asked the standing man. The sitting man turned to look at the person, his silver beard moving ever so slightly. "When I am summoned."

The younger man had dark brown hair and wore shorts and a t-shirt. The island they were on was always very warm, so it surprised him when a old man appeared on the island in heavy robes. Then again, he had known this man for quite some time and knew he only liked wearing robes.

"Look, Albus, my sister is getting a bit antsy. She knows that you needed to come here, but don't you think you should return? Doesn't the castle need you?" Albus just smiled. "When they truly need me back, I'll know. For now, I need to research so I can keep my castle safe when I return. Now, Benjamin, I need some quiet so I can concentrate."

Benjamin knew better than to ignore Dumbledore. He snuck back through the door, leaving Dumbledore to his study. Dumbledore sighed before leaning back in his chair. Suddenly, a beautiful bird flew up and landed on his shoulder. It rubbed against his cheek. Dumbledore reached his hand out and stroked it's beak.

"You have been so good to me, Fawkes. I'm glad there is at least one person in this world that will never abandon me, even to the bitter end." Fawkes nipped playfully at Dumbledore's finger. Albus chuckled.

"Yes, you have been the best companion anyone could ever ask for."

The door beside him burst open. Out came Anne, Benjamin's sister. His very pregnant sister. "Albus, I understand why you need to stay here and why you can't return to Hogwarts quite yet, but I am going to have my babies soon, so I'll have more mouths to feed. I won't be able to cook for five."

Her selfishness and rudeness flew right over Dumbledore's head. He smiled, spectacles amplifying the sparkle in his eyes. "Then I won't bother you much more. I'll leave in the morning. I know exactly where to go."

Anne sighed in relief. Benjamin was behind her, looking very mad at the way she put it. They could easily feed five people. She was just getting annoyed with having an old man who was constantly pouring over old books and not doing any chores.

"Well, I'm going to hit the sack. Thank you for all of your hospitality and I wish you luck in your parenthood." Dumbledore bowed slightly before heading through the door for his room. Anne turned around smiling, but Benjamin had a look of disgust on his face.

"How can you be so selfish to a man who saved our lives?" Anne's smile vanished. It was quickly replaced by a frown. "We needed him to leave before he found out that they are _our_ kids! He believes it was Ryan and me, but it was really me and you! I can't let the person I call a father know something like that!"

Benjamin shook his head. "I really don't understand you women."

He left Anne standing in shock. How could he not see it? Dumbledore was their fatherly figure and yet Benjamin doesn't believe it would make him upset that they are our children?

Anne let out a deep breath before following the previous two men. The door would remain shut for quite a while before someone opened it again.

* * *

Shikamaru and Sakura were walking out of the Room of Requirement with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione went up to Sakura and Shikamaru to give them a comforting look. The tears in Sakura's eyes were not helping.

The sound of hurried footsteps from behind Shikamaru made him jump out of the way of an incoming kick. A mop of bright blonde hair was all that was seen until it crash landed into a wall.

"Ah, man, that wasn't supposed to happen like that!" Sakura smiled at his antics, which showed themselves less often than they used to. Naruto stood up, rubbing the back of his head as he stood. Sakura went over to him and punched him, which didn't help his already growing headache. He felt something warm wrap around his body and realized Sakura was hugging him. "Baka. Please don't do that again."

Naruto's blush slammed onto his face. Shikamaru stood back, a bemused look plastered on his face. Hermione and Ron were suppressing giggles in the background. It seemed that Harry was the only one who understood what he was going through at that moment.

A loud clicking of heels sounded behind them. They turned around to see a bright pink blob, otherwise known as Professor Toad. Also known as Umbridge. And probably about thirty other nicknames. The point is, the newly appointed headmaster was standing in front of them.

Ron quickly took a look at his watch. 9:31. One minute after curfew. "Well, what do we have here? Six Gryffindor students out and about after hours? We can't have that, now can we? 50 points from Gryffindor. Each."

They were all about to burst out before Professor McGonagall came out of a nearby room. "Oh, there you six are! Now, can you please give me your extra credit essays?"

They glanced at each other quickly before rummaging through there bags for the only essays they were assigned from Transfiguration. When they got them, they handed them to Professor McGonagall. Umbridge had an outraged look on her face. Professor McGonagall smiled and looked over to Umbridge. "As you can see, I asked them to do some extra credit assignments for me and hand them back today. I saw them at the end of dinner and told them to bring me their essays."

"Yes, well, you could have easily gotten them tomorrow!"

"It wasn't that far to get to their dormitories. It was easier this way."

"They are out after hours because of this!"

"They are three minutes after hours! That is not significant!"

"Yes it is! Any time after hours, even one minute, is a lot!"

"You six, you can have fifty points back each because of this mishap! Go to your dormitories!"

They all jumped up in fright and started on their way. They heard yelling in the background, but they were just glad they got out of it unscathed. "Did you see their faces? They were freaking out at each other!"

Hermione hit Ron in the shoulder. "Ronald, that is quite enough! Professor McGonagall got us out of a tight situation! We should be grateful-"

"We are, Hermione, we're just saying it was more than us being there that caused the fight. They have some bad blood between them." Hermione looked at Harry like he had just grown another head.

Hermione looked over to the Shinobi for help, but they were all facing random ways. She sighed in defeat before stalking off to the Fat Lady, who was surprisingly right in front of them. Everyone decided to follow Hermione's lead and go through the Fat Lady's portrait. "Oh, sure, I'll just stay open forever!"

Ron smiled and said, "Thanks! That'd be great!" A huff was heard from the Fat Lady and she slammed the door shut right as he walked in. He jumped forward in fright.

Everyone laughed at him. His ears reddened slightly before he stalked off to his warm, cozy bed. Harry followed and Hermione went to hers. The shinobi decided to stay downstairs for a while.

After getting settled in the warm chairs, they stared at the fire. So much had happened so soon. They didn't quite know what to think. Naruto was thinking about everything from Sasuke's death to him almost leaving for Konoha. His emotions had almost been like a girls in a way. He couldn't keep hold on any one emotion.

Sakura was mostly thinking about the father she never knew. Her mother had told her many stories of the man that she loved. He had been there for the first three years of her life, but she couldn't remember his face. Her mother's stories gave her a picture, but it wasn't the true thing. If only none of that had ever happened...

Shikamaru was over analyzing things as usual. He was thinking about all the burdens Tsunade had placed on him. He had to protect Naruto and Sakura to the best of his abilities. He had to make sure they stayed and helped complete the mission. He had to tell them of the war at the most convenient time possible. He had to help them in anyway possible. He had to find out information on everything related to the shinobi to see how much wizards knew. He didn't know if he could handle it all without going crazy.

Silence filled the common room. The only noise was of the crackling of the fire. Sakura saw Naruto drifting off to sleep and decided she was going to break the silence.

"We should go get some rest. A lot has happened and sleep will help." They nodded and went up the stairs to their room. During their whole time downstairs, they had not noticed the face that was in the fire. The face stared sadly at the three teenagers that had just left. "Why are they given so many harsh burdens these days?"

* * *

Light filled the spacious room. Nagini was slithering over to her master in order to wake him. She could smell visitors coming. When she got to her masters seat, it was empty. She flicked her tongue and went back to her cushion on the floor. She heard the door slam open. She slipped off her cushion and went over to the door, making sure to keep in the shadows. Banging ensued up the stairs. Nagini got herself ready. As the door slammed open, she hissed and lunged forward into the man's ankle.

His yelp filled the room. A strong hand grabbed onto the snake and ripped her off his ankle. She flailed against the hold. "Oy! Nagini! You nearly bit my ankle off!"

After paying attention to who was in front of her, she stopped flailing. Michio let her down. That was the fifth time she had tried to bite his ankle off since they moved to this new hideout. Michio was currently fuming that Zetsu had taken up the training grounds. There wasn't anywhere else to practice except the biggest room in the house. Currently, no one had any use of it, so...

Michio flung out his sword and sliced a spider in half. It had just been coming down from the ceiling, so it was a nice warm-up. Well, at least a nice warm-up for being inside.

He smirked and grabbed a scroll from his pouch. He opened it and brought out two training dummies he had been storing. Setting them up in the middle of the room was the best idea. He pushed the chair to the side of the room and set the dummies up. After looking at his masterpiece for a second, he put his sword in front of him. He took a deep breath in. "Chido-"

"And what would you be doing in my room? You wouldn't be _training_, now would you?" Michio swallowed and turned around. Voldemort was behind him, Nagini on his shoulders. Michio was positive she was smirking. He glared at her. "Michio? I'd love an answer today."

"No, I wasn't actually going to train in here." Voldemort looked at him with the 'I know you're lying' face. Michio withstood the face. "Zetsu's hogging the training grounds!"

The one thing Voldemort hated more than Harry Potter was people who complained. Michio was now on Voldemort's 'To Kill' list. Poor, poor Michio.

A sudden hiss from Nagini brought Voldemort out of his bad mood. He sensed a person at the door downstairs. They were not friendly. Voldemort grabbed a bottle from his table and chugged it. Soon after, he changed into a middle-aged man with nice clothes. He stood up and walked downstairs, telling Michio to change his appearance.

Voldemort got down to the door and opened it. Three people from the ministry stood in front of him. The one in front wore heavy robes that was a variation of blues. The other two wore less extravagant robes. The one wearing the blue robes pulled out a scroll and opened it. He cleared his throat and began.

"The minister of magic wishes me to inform you, Malcolm L. Witherford, that you must be at the ministry of magic on December 15, exactly two weeks from today. It is important that you show up on this date because of a trial being held for your misconduct during your time at the ministry. If you are not seen at the ministry on this day, then we will be forced to bring you to Azkaban. Thank you for your time today." He closed the scroll and turned around. They started walking back to their car.

Voldemort stared at them with a bemused look on his face. He shut the door and went to where Michio and Zetsu were. He was going to start having some fun.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto was the first to wake. He looked outside to see white. After staring for a moment more, his eyes widened. "SNOW!"

Shikamaru and Sakura jumped awake, jumping into their ready positions. After realizing it wasn't an attack and seeing how ecstatic Naruto was, they inwardly sighed. 'Great, snow.'

Naruto changed as fast as he possibly could. If there was one thing he loved almost as much as ramen, it was snow. In Konoha, it barely ever happened. When Naruto saw snow for the first time, he ran around in it for hours. By that night, it had mostly melted away, which had disappointed him greatly.

Before Shikamaru or Sakura could stop him, he had run downstairs and was out of the portrait hole. So much for actually talking about what they had been going through.

Naruto skidded around the final corner before the doors leading outside. He ran to them and pushed them open. The first step he took outside, he fell through around eight inches of snow. His eyes grew into diamonds. This was the most snow he had ever seen!

"What are you doing out here at this hour, Mr. Uzumaki?" Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned to face Professor McGonagall. Her smile was very deceiving. Naruto gulped.

"U-um, playing in the snow?" Professor McGonagall started laughing. Naruto got confused quickly. After another moment of laughing, he understood. "Sakura-chan!"

Professor McGonagall suddenly changed into Sakura, who was laughing hysterically. Naruto grinned. "You should have seen how scared you were at me! That was hilarious!"

Naruto's grin grew before he tackled her in the snow. They wrestled around for a moment before Sakura pinned Naruto. The look on her face stopped Naruto from trying to over take her. It actually sopped him from doing anything logical. Sakura leaned forward. Naruto felt there lips brush slightly before there was a pressure on them.

Naruto was remembering this moment to the best of his ability. He was in heaven for ten seconds. When it ended, there was a noise off to Naruto's left. He turned his head and saw Shikamaru there, looking in the opposite direction. Sakura jumped off Naruto and then helped Naruto up. They were both blushing, partially from embarrassment and partially from the cold.

"Come on, guys, let's go train. I got some scrolls from Tsunade-sama for us to train from. Apparently everyone else is rapidly getting better while we are on this mission. She doesn't want us to get sloppy while we're here." They nodded, slightly wondering how he was getting all this stuff from her without there knowledge. Letting this information leave their minds, they started to the forbidden forest.

The walk there was silent, no one really knowing what they should talk about. Sakura hesitated before starting a conversation. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, Naruto, but why do you want to save the village so much after everything they've ever done to you?"

Naruto stiffened for a moment before continuing to walk. He was silent for a while. Sakura guessed he was gathering his thoughts. "Well, I guess it's just because I don't want to have to hate so many people all my life. I'd rather they respected me so I didn't have to hate them. The only way to get them to respect me is to save them."

Shikamaru was the only one to notice just how badly Naruto was lying throughout his speech. He would never stop hating the village and many of the people in it. They were horrible to him without him ever knowing why. The only way he could ever keep those horrible thoughts out of his head was by protecting them until he was blue in the face.

Sakura was glad that his answer was that. She didn't want him to hate the village, even though she wouldn't blame him for it. Her mother was one of the ones who tried to get him out of the village when he was five. It was right after Sakura and Naruto met. Her mother wasn't too happy that they met.

The forest beckoned them in. They gladly excepted the invitation. After starting off with some taijutsu, they went right to the scrolls. Each had a separate scroll. They decided to give everyone room and they spread out. After spending roughly six hours outside, they met up. They all looked incredibly exhausted and agreed to go get lunch. They trudged back to the castle through the snow. It had lowered slightly, but Sakura said it had just settled.

They made it to lunch early, so they picked seats next to the door. Once the great hall had filled, food came. Naruto chowed down on everything he could reach. Sakura rolled her eyes as she herself ate quite heavily. Shikamaru ate without really caring what he was eating. Typical Shikamaru.

"I was wondering where you guys had gotten off to." The shinobi turned to see the golden trio. They were all smiling stupidly as if something insanely funny had just happened.

"Well, you found us! Now what happened?" At that, they burst out laughing. After a minute of laughing, they died down enough to tell them. "Fred and George decided to have a fireworks spree on the school. They managed to let one off right in Umbridge's face!"

After the shinobi focused their hearing, they realized this was all anyone in the room was talking about. Now they wished they hadn't been outside all morning. At the sound of the doors being slammed open, the noise ceased. Umbridge practically ran in. She slowed down when she reached the front. When she turned to face everyone, sniggers escaped the crowd. She glared at them.

Her hair was sticking up in odd places and her face was completely blackened. "I WILL FIND OUT WHO DID THIS TO THE SCHOOL TODAY!"

Once again, the great hall was silent. No one spoke up. That only enraged her more. "WHO SET OFF THE FIREWORKS?" No one said anything again. She huffed and stamped her feet like a little girl who didn't get what she wanted.

"YOU ARE ALL NOW IN DETENTION UNTIL I FIND OUT WHO DID IT!" Protests swept the hall before the sound of shattering glass filled the hall. Everyone looked behind Umbridge to see two figures on brooms fly through the screamed and ducked as one of the figures flew right above her. They flew to the doors and landed. They dramatically turned around.

Fred and George Weasley had the biggest grins on their face. Everyone that knew who set the fireworks off burst out laughing. Umbridge, however, did not. She looked livid.

"YOU TWO WILL HAVE DETENTIONS EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR DUE TO YOUR STUPIDITY!" Fred and George glanced at each other before smirking.

"I don't think we'll be able to do that." Fred said.

"We're leaving, unfortunately." George said.

"Give her hell, Peeves." They said in unison. The ghost that had been hovering behind them smirked and started cackling. "Gladly."

Fred and George got back on their brooms and gave each other a high five. Then, they flew up to the top of the great hall in order to drop fireworks down. Once again, one of them was going straight for Umbridge. A high pitched squeal was heard from her as she started running away. Naruto decided to help Fred and George with the last prank they would ever do in Hogwarts.

Naruto quickly made two clones, disguising them as Fred and George. The real ones, who quickly understood, dropped the fakes some fireworks. The fakes ran off and caught up with Umbridge. One went in front while the other went behind her. Her eyes widened as she realized there was no way out.

"This is your thank you gift before we leave!" The real Fred yelled down. The two clones smiled and unleashed the fireworks. Umbridge screamed and tried to get out of the way but failed. The noise in the hall was deafening at that point.

Fred and George winked at Naruto before taking off out the window they had previously broken. Everyone was cheering at the diminishing fireworks. Fred and George had left quite the legacy, one that would take a long time to live up to.

* * *

"Bloody epic!" Ron yelled as the students were heading back to the dormitories. Hermione looked extremely upset. "What's wrong, Hermione?"

She looked at Harry, wide-eyed. "Don't you see? Because of this, Umbridge is going to bring hell on earth to us! Fred and George left us with a livid person who will take all her anger out on us!"

Everyone was taken aback by the sudden change in mood. Sakura and Shikamaru understood where she was coming from. The other three boys were full of questions. Hermione jumped half a meter into the air when she saw someone dressed in bright pink turn around the corner. Umbridge looked up at them, her eyes showing all the emotion while her body showed none.

"Come with me."

Her voice was not sweet and high-pitched anymore. It was monotone and had an evil tint behind it. The three shinobi glanced at each other. She sounded like Sasuke did right before he left the village. She was already on the path for revenge.

The group followed her all the way to her office. It looked the same as always except for the name plaque which had Headmaster underneath her name. She motioned for them to sit in the chairs in front of her desk. They sat without hesitation.

"I know you were all close to the Weasley twins." She looked at Ron, as if expecting him to confirm this. He did nothing. "Therefore, I believe you all had a part in what happened today."

The ninja knew Harry and Ron were going to protest, so Sakura quickly put up a genjutsu around them. To Umbridge they showed no emotion. In reality, they were appalled by what she had just said. Shikamaru and Sakura covered their mouths just in time. "Shhh!"

Umbridge narrowed her eyes at the small noise she heard. She blew it off as being her kittens meowing. "All of you are in detention with me unless one of you confesses to who helped."

They sat in silence. Umbridge waited a few more seconds. "Very w-"

"I was the only one that helped them. I take all the blame."

Everyone stared in shock. Why would he say such a thing? The golden trio was surprised, to say the least. They still weren't as surprised as the two ninja.

Shikamaru was standing, his face completely emotionless. He had dispelled the genjustu in order to say he did it. "It's troublesome, but it's true."

Umbridge did not look happy. She had been hoping for no one to say anything so she could punish them all. Or at least for Harry to say he did it. She was not expecting the quietest person to say something.

"And why should I believe you?" Shikamaru sighed. "Because I know exactly where their final firework is. I can tell you as long as they are not in any trouble."

She was surprised to find there was another firework somewhere in this castle. How could it work if no one was setting it off? "Fine. Where is this firework?"

"It is in your desk, third drawer down. In order to disable it, you need to insert a quill into the hole on the side of that particular drawer." She looked on the side of her desk and saw the hole. She grabbed a quill and pushed it in. There was a noise that sounded like something shutting down. When it ended, she took her quill out and slowly opened the drawer.

There was a very colorful firework that had all shades of the rainbow in it. She pulled it out and noticed a small dent in it. That was where she shut it off apparently. "So, this is the firework you planted here?"

"Yes it is."

"Very well. Mr. Nara, you will have detention for the next week at 7:30 each night." Her voice had gotten back to it's normal, annoying tone. "And I don't want any trouble from any of you. I will not be hesitant in giving out detentions. Good night!"

They all quickly left the hideous office. They hurried back to the Gryffindor common room. After getting inside, they decided to split up. The shinobi wanted to get some sleep while the golden trio was going to stay up for a while.

After lugging themselves up the stairs, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura all crashed onto their beds. Sakura and Naruto both sat up and turned to Shikamaru. "We know why you did it, but I don't see why you didn't let one of us do it instead." Sakura said, Naruto nodding in agreement.

Shikamaru looked at both of them. "You two always do everything. It was my turn to actually do something. Plus, you two have each other while I have no one, so I might as well help everyone I can."

They weren't quite expecting that. Naruto spoke first. "But you have Temari, don't you? You two are always hanging out."

Shikamaru laughed. "She's just a troublesome woman." For some reason, Shikamaru got a tight feeling in his chest. Maybe there really was something between him and Temari after all.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in front of the fire, hoping they could just melt into the chairs. They all felt horrible for letting Shikamaru do that. They were grateful, yes, but they felt so guilty for not speaking first.

"Why did he have to do that? And how did he know about that firework?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged while Hermione answered. "He probably noticed the wire coming out of the hole. It was pretty obvious that it was a firework, since the end of the wire had Fred and Georges symbol on it."

"He probably did it to protect us from needing to do anything. From Naruto and Sakura's reactions, they weren't expecting it either." She concluded. Harry continued to stare into the fire. He would give anything for Sirius to show up in the fire, but he knew it was too dangerous.

"That was bloody amazing!"

"I know! I never realized just how smart those Weasley brothers are!"

"They were always acting like such big goofs, I never thought they would do something so brilliant!"

So many awesome things were being said about Fred and George. Ron was finally proud to be under the Weasley name. He was also proud that his brothers, the slackers in his family, had done something so amazing.

"They really weren't that brilliant. I'm sure most of that was just luck. Their scores on the O.W.L.s weren't amazing, right?" Ron stared at Hermione in shock. Harry was surprised she said that.

"Are you insane? That was bloody brilliant! Not many people would be able to come up with stuff like that!" Before this turned into a full blown arguement, Harry intervened.

"Hey, you guys, it's been a long day. Why don't we go get some sleep?" They nodded, sending one last glare at each other. They separated to go to their rooms.

When Harry and Ron made it up to their room, Harry didn't bother changing. He had had a foreboding feeling for the past few days. It wasn't going away. Maybe it had something to do with the dream of the door he had been having?

He took off his glasses and got comfortable. After Ron had gotten changed and situated on his bed, the sound of the heater brought Harry right to sleep, just like the sweet lullaby of a mother.

* * *

This chapter is my longest chapter! And it's also chapter 20! And I technically updated in under a month. I have two excuses.

1)my cat of 18 years, Pfeifer, passed away. :(

2) small writers block

Well, it's out now, so I'm satisfied. And my other story, Hidan's Eyes, will be updated soon. I have a four day weekend, so I'm using it to update stories! If you haven't checked it out, it is a yaoi story between Kakuzu and Hidan. Slight crack fic. Funny. Cute. And probably other things. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! XD


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was the middle of the night. Sakura and Shikamaru were dreaming about various things. Shikamaru was remembering his sensei and everything they did together. Every once in a while, Temari would enter his dreams. Sakura was dreaming about a father she never had the liberty to know. She was imagining what it would have been like to have him around.

Naruto, on the other hand, was staring out the window, watching the snow fall. He was not looking forward to the rest of this year, knowing that a war was going on in his village. It only made him wish he had left when he had the opportunity.

He looked over to the calender Sakura bought for them. Today was the last day of classes before Christmas break. He wasn't sure what Christmas was or what they would do during this 'Christmas break'. Naruto looked down to the wand in his hands. It seemed to have changed slightly. It had an orange hue to it along with the beginnings of an engraving. He couldn't tell what the engraving was yet, but it intrigued him.

Another hour went by. Naruto still didn't feel like sleeping. After a few more hours, when the sun was starting to rise, he decided to go back to sleep. Or at least pretend to.

An hour went by before Sakura arose. She had a very good nights sleep. When she looked over to see if Shikamaru was up yet, she saw that Naruto's hangings were drawn. He was always way too lazy to do that. She crept out of bed and to Naruto's bed. She peered around the bed and saw that he drew them the whole way around the bed. She was incredibly curious as to why he would do that, but she decided to just ignore it and get ready.

Shikamaru woke up a few minutes later and he dragged himself out of bed. He got completely ready before turning to wake Naruto up. He was greeted with bright red cloth. He turned to Sakura. "Since when does he do that?"

She shrugged and left their room. Shikamaru turned back to the hanging and opened it up. He saw Naruto's mop of bright blonde hair cascading all around his pillow. His blankets were not as messed up as normal, which gave Shikamaru the impression that he only just went to bed. He sighed and quietly said, "Naruto."

Naruto stirred and opened his eyes to see Shikamaru. "Was I that obvious?" Shikamaru nodded.

Naruto groaned and got out of bed. "Why did I stay up so late?" Shikamaru said nothing, since it sounded like Naruto was asking himself. Naruto threw his robes on and grabbed his wand. He then grabbed his bag of books for the morning. As they walked downstairs, a question struck Naruto.

"Hey, Shikamaru, I was wondering if your wand had changed at all." Shikamaru rose an eyebrow, but looked at his wand anyway. It was the exact same way it was when Dumbledore gave it to him. Shikamaru really hadn't had time to get a wand for himself. "No, why?"

"No reason." Shikamaru suspected that his had changed, but he said nothing. By the time they got down to the Great Hall, it was jam packed. It was also nearly silent. All Shikamaru and Naruto had to do was look up to the front. It seemed that Umbridge had decided she should be th only one to be at the front of the Great Hall. All the teachers were now located at the back near the doors. The students were looking only at their food.

Shikamaru and Naruto went to the closest free spot at the Gryffindor table. It was all the way at the front. They noisily walked down to the end and sat. Umbridge was staring at them the whole way down. She continued to stare at them even after they sat. After another moment, she finally did her signature, "Hem-hem."

Everyone looked up at her. She directed her gaze to Shikamaru and Naruto. "Since you two feel it is inadequate to come to breakfast on time, you will both be receiving a detention. Mr. Nara, I do believe this will be yet another detention on your very large list of detentions. It will be tonight at 7:30."

It took every once of willpower Naruto had to not pounce on her right then and there and slash her throat. Shikamaru plainly ignored it and just kept eating. Naruto soon joined, but was slamming his fork into the food. Thankfully, this torturous silence did not last much longer. They were dismissed for their first class.

They met up with Sakura and the golden trio on their way to Transfiguration. They were all very edgy about Umbridge's latest decree. Why was she making everyone be prim and proper all of the sudden?

When they arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, everyone was talking about it. No one understood why she was doing this. Even when Professor McGonagall came in, the talking did not cease. Everyone began to bombard her with questions.

"Are the teachers fighting this?"

"Do you like her rules Professor McGonagall?"

"Why is she doing this to us?"

Professor McGonagall silenced everyone using a very stern voice. "We will NOT be talking about this in this classroom! We will only be talking about your lesson today!"

The rest of the class went like every other lesson. Pretty much all of the classes were like that. They went normally. Then, Defense against the Dark Arts came. Umbridge made sure this lesson was an unforgettable one.

Number one on the agenda of what to do: listen to all of Umbridge's decrees. Every. Single. One. She wanted to drill them into their heads. After wasting most of class on that, she reads a new decree that, "came from the man who will better all of your lives."

Everyone was very annoyed about this new decree. All meals will be held in silence due to the lack of cooperation in finding Albus Dumbledore. All students must go to the meals at a certain time and shall be no earlier or later or they will receive a detention.

Hermione and Sakura had to hold Harry, Ron, and Naruto back from jumping at her. Shikamaru once again just zoned out and ignored everything that was said while still taking in the most valuble information.

Class thankfully ended and they were dismissed for the day. They had to be at dinner by five-thirty. They had one hour to relax and talk. Everyone used that time to the best of their ability.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were over in a corner talking about Dumbledore's Army. They still had not told everyone where they would be meeting. Now that Umbridge was doing this, they needed to start it up even faster.

"Ginny and I have been telling a few people. We told nearly all the Gryffindors that are interested, but we only got a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. We were planning on telling them at breakfast this morning, but that obviously didn't work." Hermione sighed and looked over to the shinobi. They were just sitting there, reading random books. It didn't look like they were taking in any of the information.

"We'll just have to tell them before and after classes. I think we all have classes with at least one or two of them." Ron and Hermione nodded. "Then it's settled. We are telling everyone on the list somehow."

When they broke their little corner huddle, Hermione went over to the shinobi. "How are you guys?"

They jumped at the noise before Sakura answered. "We're doing alright." Hermione didn't buy it. Then, Naruto asked a question. "Hey, Hermione, has your wand changed at all since you got it?"

Hermione looked at him strangely. "I'm not sure." She pulled her wand out of her bag and looked at it. Her eyes widened slightly. "Yes, it has! There never used to be decorative vines on it! At least, I don't think there has been."

Sakura then pulled out her wand. She spun it around on her fingertips. Nothing had changed on hers. "Has yours changed, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded slowly. He pulled it out and showed Sakura, Hermione, and Shikamaru what had changed. Sakura then asked a question. "Why did his change and mine stay the same?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "I never knew they changed in the first place. I need to go to the library. I'll see you at dinner." She dashed out of the common room before they said a word.

"Let me see your wand again, Naruto." He handed it to Sakura. She looked at it closely. Near the tip of the wand, there was something there. What is it...

"Naruto, I think you have the beginnings of an inscription on your wand." His eyebrows furrowed and he took the wand back. "It's up near the tip of the wand."

He directed his eyes to the tip. He inspected the tip of his wand. Indeed, there was a letter at the end. "It's a D." Sakura sat and pondered the possible words it could make. Defend. Deep. Doubt. Destroy. Detail. Deserve. Detrimental. Derive. Decide. Drive. Dare. Dread. Demolish. Demand. Dead.

She prayed that it was not the last word. There were probably a hundred other words that began with D as well. She decided it was for the best if she didn't add to the list anymore.

"I wonder what it means... there's another letter!" They all leaned forward as a letter inscribed itself onto the wood. This time, it was a E. Dread filled Sakura up suddenly. Dead was still a possibility.

"Naruto, put it away." Naruto looked up at her like she was insane. "Why? More letters might appear!"

"It's highly doubtful that any more will appear. You did see how slowly that letter appeared, right?" He pouted, but did as he was told. He put it into his bag and zipped it up. Sakura grabbed his bag and left for their room. "Why is she so against finding out what it is?"

"Probably because of the possible words it could be. Especially one word in particular." Shikamaru closed his book and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Naruto gave him a strange look for a second before realization set on his face. "You mean the word dead?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, most likely that's why she is acting the way she is." Naruto laughed.

"That's so stupid! Even if it will say that, there's no way I'm dieing!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "She will always worry about something like this. Women worry more than they need to. They also blow things out of proportion all the time. The only advice I can give you is get used to it."

Naruto shook his head. He then looked at his watch. "We've got twenty minutes before we have to be in the Great Hall. I wonder if she'll let us wander around in that time..."

"I doubt it. She's freaking out about people being late to meals, so I think she'd hate us wandering around aimlessly. Then again, it wasn't in any of her decrees." Naruto and Shikamaru looked at each other. "Let's go!"

Naruto jumped up and ran out the Fat Lady's portrait before Shikamaru even stood up. "I meant that we'd go together." Shikamaru sighed and took off after his friend.

Sakura came back down the stairs and looked for Naruto and Shikamaru. What she had done was a little rude, so she was going to apologize for it. Too bad they had just left.

"They left probably ten seconds ago. I think they were going to wander around in the time we had left before dinner." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I expected that out of Naruto, but not Shikamaru. I think they've been hanging out too much."

She left to go make sure they didn't do something too stupid. Then again, Naruto had matured remarkably since they same here. She smiled as she left the common room.

* * *

Voldemort was pacing. Whenever he began pacing, it never meant something good. Wormtail was watching him, a terrified look on his face. Voldemort then looked over to Michio, who was twirling a piece of straw in his hands. He looked over to Voldemort when he sensed him looking at him. "What?"

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "I have a task for you to do."

"Not interested." Michio went back to his twirling. Voldemort's face erupted in fury. "YOU **WILL** DO THIS TASK! I AM THE GREAT LORD VOLDEMORT AND I COMMAND YOU TO DO THIS TASK!"

Michio gave him yet another bemused look. "Like I said before, I could care less that you're 'The Great Lord Voldemort' or whatever it is you dub yourself as. I'm only in this world to dispose of the ninja protecting Harry. Plus, Zetsu got me on good terms with his leader, so I'll probably end up joining Akatsuki when I get out of here. For now, I need to train."

With that, he stood and went towards the door. Voldemort suddenly put a shield in front of the door. Michio grabbed his sword and attacked the shield. It didn't penetrate the shield like he had hoped it would. "Damnit."

Michio whirled around and glared at snake man. "Let me out." Voldemort smirked. "Not until you say you'll do the task I'm giving you."

"Fine, I'll do it. Now let me out." Voldemort threw a piece of parchment at him. "Open it. It has all the details of the task."

Michio opened it and saw the first word before he felt something tug at him. The next thing he knew, he was spiraling out of control. He felt nauseous for a second before he landed roughly in his new destination. "I'm going to murder him when I get back."

He unwillingly read the rest of the task. Michio looked around at his surroundings, found a corner, and sat down. It was going to be a long wait.

* * *

His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone...He was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly... It was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors...He was turning his head...At first glance, the corridor was empty...but no... a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark...

Harry put out his tongue...He tasted the man's scent on the air...He was alive but drowsing... sitting in front of a door at the end of a corridor...

Harry longed to bit the man... but he must master the impulse...He had more important work to do...

But the man was stirring...a silvery cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt...He had no choice...He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh , feelinf his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood...

The man was yelling in pain...the he fell silent...He slumped backward against the wall...Blood was splattering onto the floor...

Another figure appeared behind the man that had fallen unconscious...Harry knew this man and let him foreward...The new man pulled out a sword...He lifted it high into the air...He swung down hard...

Harry's forehead was searing with pain as he came out of sleep.

"Harry? HARRY?" Harry opened his eyes only to shut them in pain. He clenched his sweaty hand onto his forehead, as if hoping it will help ease the pain. Before he knew what was happening, he vomited over the edge of the bed. He then sat up and jumped out of bed.

"Where's Naruto and Shikamaru?" Harry felt extremely light-headed and nearly fell over. Ron caught him. "Harry, you're ill, you need to sit! Someone go get help!"

"I need those two! I don't need anybody else! Ron, you need to get them if you want to keep your dad!" Ron froze. "W-what?"

"GO FIND NARUTO AND SHIKAMARU!" Someone ran out of the common room. Harry leaned back against his bed, shaking and clammy. Ron was staring at him, completely frozen. Naruto and Shikamaru then burst through the door. "What's going on Harry?"

"You need to go find Ron's dad! He's badly hurt! There was... a snake I think. Then there was a person with a sword that resembled Michio's sword..."

They left before he finished. They were sprinting faster than they had ever gone in their lives. Shikamaru skidded to a halt in front of the Room of Requirement. "Naruto! I'm pretty sure he's in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic! There's no way we'll get there in time! One of the portraits in Dumbledore's office has another picture in there! They can get help! The password's Fizzing Whizbee! GO!" Naruto nodded and started towards Dumbledore's office. When he got there, he shouted the password and ran to the top. He then realized it was moving and nearly fell off.

By the time it finally got to the top, he slammed the door open and yelled, "Which portrait goes to the Ministry of Magic?" The portraits all grumpily woke up. Naruto was annoyed that they were taking two seconds too long. "Do any of you have a portrait in the Ministry of Magic? Someone's injured near the Department of Mysteries! His name's Arthur Weasley! Please help!"

A sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs answered. "I have a portrait in the Ministry of Magic." Naruto was sick of waiting. "THEN GO YELL FOR HELP IN YOUR OTHER PORTRAIT!" The portrait glared at him for a moment before disappearing.

Naruto looked around the office. It was the same as the last time he saw it. Nothing had changed in Dumbledore's absence. Naruto started pacing. What was taking that stupid portrait so long?

He then thought back to right before they went to Harry's room. Naruto had been awake for a while. He felt dark power beneath him. It was gripping and choking power. It felt all to similar to something he felt on a daily basis. Then it disappeared. Naruto heard some yelling and he decided to wake Shikamaru. Sakura was still not too happy with them for ditching her earlier.

Shikamaru was already awake. He heard the yelling, but hadn't felt the dark power. They went out of the room. They were walking down the stairs when they heard Harry yell. They ran down to their room. They saw Neville running down the stairs. He was most likely getting a teacher, which was probably for the best.

"I yelled for help and said I heard something downstairs. They reluctantly went downstairs and came back up carrying him. It'll be a miracle if he survives. They said he wasn't breathing, which is probably normal for having yourself nearly sliced in half. They are bringing him to St. Mungo's." The man sat in his chair and wiped sweat off of his face. He looked green.

Naruto was staring at the ground. Was he too late? Was Michio really there? Did he do that to Mr. Weasley? The door suddenly opened behind him. Professor McGonagall was standing there with Harry, the Weasleys, and Shikamaru. Professor McGonagall just had to look up at the portraits to know what happened.

"Phineas!" Another portrait was stirring in his sleep. This was presumably Phineas. "PHINEAS!" He jerked awake. "Huh? What happened?"

Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Go to your other portrait and tell Sirius Arthur's been hurt and his children, Harry Potter, and two of the foreign exchange students will be coming by portkey for the night."

He glared back before leaving his portrait. After a few moments, he appeared again. "He said he'll be happy to have them stay."

Professor McGonagall nodded and took out a shoe. She muttered a few words before it started glowing. "Hold onto the shoe while I count to three." Everyone grabbed the shoe.

"One, two, three!" They all felt something pull at them and the started spinning uncontrollably. They landed on hard wood and all stood up. Sirius came into the room just as Kreacher did. "Filthy children. Is it true there father's dead?"

"OUT!" Kreacher fled the scene. Sirius took one look at everyone before saying, "I'll go get some butterbeer! Why don't the two foreign exchange students come and help me?" Shikamaru and Naruto looked at each other before following.

The went into the kitchen and were stopped by Sirius. "I know exactly why you two are here and I know that there's a third member of you ninja. Dumbledore told me everything."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded. Sirius then smiled. "Well, we should get the butterbeer. They definitely need it. Oh, one more thing. You," He pointed to Naruto, "Are Naruto, right?" He nodded.

"Then that means you're Sasuke?" The Shinobi looked away at that. Shikamaru shook his head. "No, he's dead. I'm Shikamaru."

Sirius looked at them, worry filling his face. "I'm sorry for your loss." They just nodded. Sirius took out his wand and flicked it, saying, "Accio Butterbeer!" A plate of delicious looking drinks came to his wand. "Let's go."

Harry proceeded to tell his story. He made it sound like we was watching from the sidelines and not actually the snake itself. After that, everyone was silent. For the next few hours, everyone merely sat there in silence. A few of them began to drift off. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun began to rise. Sirius jerked awake and looked outside to see the sun rising.

Harry stood and went over to him. He got up and gestured for Harry to follow him to the kitchen. "Shouldn't Mrs. Weasley have come by now?"

Sirius nodded. "It does seem very strange that she hasn't at least updated us. She was notified, correct?" Harry nodded. Professor McGonagall had told them on the way to Dumbledore's office that she would notify her.

There was a knock on the door. Harry went over and opened the door. A man stood there in robes. He had parchment that was folded with him. "This is from Molly Weasley to Harry Potter." The man looked at him for a second before handing him the parchment. "Thanks."

Harry closed the door and walked back into the living room. Everyone was staring at him. Harry swallowed and shook his head. "I can't read this. One of you should read it." He pushed it down the table. They all stared at it for a moment before Fred grabbed it. He opened it, hands shaking. Fred and George started reading it. It had only been a few moments before Fred dropped it. They were both staring in shock. Ron's face lost all of it's color.

Harry left the room. Naruto and Shikamaru saw this. Sirius was trying to comfort them as they all burst out crying. Naruto told Shikamaru he'd handle it. Shikamaru nodded and Naruto followed Harry up the stairs. Harry went into Buckbeak's room. Naruto followed him and looked at the monstrosity in front of him. "Naruto, I don't want anyone to be here. Please leave."

"Not until you tell me what that is. It's really awesome." Buckbeak looked at Naruto and bowed. "You have to bow back." Naruto did as he was told. Buckbeak almost seemed to smile at Naruto as he walked up to him and petted him.

"It's a Hippogriff named Buckbeak. Now _leave_." Naruto continued to pet him. "No."

"Naruto, I just killed someone! I don't want anyone else to get hurt! Now go!" Harry proceeded to push Naruto out of the room. Naruto stopped Harry from slamming the door shut.

"Harry, you did _not_ just kill someone. Voldemort did. And Michio probably helped him. It was not your fault! You would know if you had truly killed him." Naruto's voice faded away. Harry just shook his head. "I did kill him. I feel so incredibly guilty."

Naruto let go of Harry. "Fine. Believe what you want." Naruto left Harry standing there. Harry just stood there for a very long time before his emotions finally go the best of him. His tears would not cease no matter how hard he tried. He eventually went back into Buckbeak's room and shut the door, locking it with his wand.

* * *

The days leading up to Christmas were not as festive as they should have been. The only three that weren't constantly crying were Sirius, Naruto, and Shikamaru. Harry had kept himself locked up in Buckbeak's room. Sirius and Shikamaru were bringing him meals. They tried talking to him, but Harry would just slam the door in their faces.

Molly ended up coming on Christmas eve. She thanked Sirius for letting her children stay at his house. She did not look like she had been eating or sleeping. She also looked like she had just filled up three oceans full of tears. All the Weasleys had a family meeting in the dining room about the funeral. None of them seemed to want to. Ginny ended up storming out when Molly suggested cremation.

In the end, they decided to bury him at the burrow. They debated where for a little while before deciding next to his garage full of muggle items was the best place. They dispersed after that, Molly going upstairs to be with Ginny. None of them even bothered with Harry.

Later on Christmas eve, Hermione showed up. She stayed with Ron for most of the night. He was silent the whole time. She didn't bother to start a conversation.

After dinner, she volunteered to bring Harry supper. Naruto and Shikamaru followed her, since they were curious if he'd talk to her.

Hermione knocked on the door. "Harry? It's Hermione. I brought your supper."

The sound of footsteps began from behind the door. The door opened a fraction. "Thanks." Hermione jerked her hand with the food back. "You won't get this until you come downstairs. You will start talking to us."

"No," was the plain and short answer he gave. Hermione shrugged. "Fine, I guess you'll just starve."

She started to leave and go back downstairs when Harry burst out of the room. "Wait! I'll go downstairs!"

Hermione took in his appearance. He was filthy and looked like he hadn't taken proper care of himself in a while. His clothes hung on him because they were so filled with dirt.

"You need t get cleaned up! You're a complete mess!" Hermione rushed forward and grabbed his wrist. She dragged him to the room him and Ron were sharing. She opened the door, threw him on his bed, and started looking through his trunk. No one had noticed Ron was in the room.

Ron stared at them. He had no expression what-so-ever. Hermione found some clothes and threw them at Harry. "Now, go take a shower and get changed! And if you do something like this again, I will _not_ help you!"

Harry nodded vigorously. He was about to leave when he saw Ron. He froze in his tracks. Hermione was about to yell at him to get going when she saw Ron was with them. She lost her voice. She wasn't sure if Ron blamed Harry for his father's death or not.

"You should go get cleaned up." That was all Ron said. Harry nodded slowly before leaving. Hermione looked at Ron. "Do you blame him?"

Ron looked up at her. "I don't know. I don't know what to think of him at the moment."

"Don't blame him. He doesn't deserve it. He already blames himself for it. It wasn't his fault. He had no control over it." Ron said nothing at her words. She sighed and left him sitting there. He proceeded to lay back on his bed. He decided he needed some time to think.

Hermione stormed into the kitchen. Molly was slowly washing the dishes with flicks of her wand. Hermione collected her thoughts quickly and asked, "Why haven't you tried to talk to Harry? Why haven't any of you tried to talk to Harry?"

Her wand ceased it's flicking. Molly turned around and looked at Hermione. Hermione looked right back. "I haven't been able to stop crying long enough to talk."

"You're not crying right now, are you? When he gets done with his shower, you will gather all of your children and you _will_ talk to him." Molly looked away and began the dish-washing again.

Hermione sighed and left to go find Sirius. He was in the tapestry room. "Sirius, can I talk to you?"

He looked over to her. "Of course, Hermione. What is it?" Hermione took a deep breath.

"I need you to help me gather everyone into the living room, minus Harry. I can get him myself. I want them to get all their differences out of the way. I'm not sure if Mrs. Weasley will listen to me, so that's why I need your help. Don't tell them that it's for that reason, though. Just say it's last minute Christmas plans that everyone needs to be apart of." Sirius's eyebrows continuously rose until the end of her idea came.

"Alright, if you really want to, I can do that." "We'll help." Hermione turned to see Naruto and Shikamaru. She smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

Harry finished his shower and felt one hundred times cleaner. He put on the clothes Hermione had gotten for him. He grabbed his other clothes and realized just how filthy they were. He promised himself to never do that again. He went up to his room and peered inside. Ron was no where to be seen.

Once Harry decided it was safe, he entered and put his clothes in a hamper. He looked at himself in a mirror. He looked much healthier. Then, he remembered that he had to go downstairs in order to get food. Most of his food had been given to Buckbeak. He hadn't realized just how hungry that hippogriff could be.

Harry turned around and walked out to the landing. He looked down the stairs to see Hermione looking at him. He took a deep breath and went downstairs. Hermione gave him a reassuring look and led him to the living room. The second he saw all of the Weasleys, his breath hitched. He forced himself to keep walking. Hermione gestured to the chair in front of Sirius, Naruto, and Shikamaru. They were facing the Weasleys. Harry swallowed uncomfortably.

"This isn't exactly a meeting to discuss Christmas plans. It's more to see who is still with Harry after certain events took place. I just want to say this right now." Hermione cleared her throat. "It makes sense if you do blame Harry for Mr. Weasley's death. I would have a small part of me blame him if my father was in this position. The thing is, I wouldn't blame him so much that I would stop talking to him. I wouldn't want to stay out of his life. I'd rather keep my relationship with him as long as possible. It wasn't his fault, no matter how you look at it."

She bit her lip and then sat next to Harry. There was silence for a moment. Then, Fred spoke up. "What makes you think we do blame him? I don't blame him. I just want to destroy You-Know-Who that much more." George nodded at his twins words. "That's how I feel too."

Ginny was the next to speak. "I don't think I'd ever be able to blame Harry. That was the last thing on my mind ever since it happened." Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Ron looked at Harry and nodded. That was all Harry needed to know he was still on his side. The only one left was Molly. Everyone looked at her.

She stood up and walked over to Harry, who felt his chest tighten suddenly. She leaned over and wrapped him up in a big hug. He sat in shock for a moment before returning the hug. Harry felt her shaking and knew she was crying. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Harry. I s-should have t-tried to t-talk to you more. I n-never blamed you!"

Harry felt himself slowly breaking down with tears. They weer like that until their tears had dried up. When they parted and looked around, they saw everyone was smiling.

That night, everyone talked and talked deep into the night. They were finally sent to bed at a very late hour. Ron and Harry went upstairs together in silence. They went into their room and got into their pajamas. They laid down and turned of the lights. There was silence for a moment before Ron said, "Don't fall asleep. I don't want anyone else to die."

* * *

Oooo, Ron still holds a grudge! I had to, okay? If I didn't, it would have been way too predictable. Alright, first, the reason I haven't updated in over a month is because my computer got this keylogger on it so I had to disconnect the internet. Then, I had to wait for Christmas to come so my brother could come and see if he could get rid of it. He couldn't, so we ended up nuking the computer. (which is our way of saying wiping it out) When we started updating it and everything, it froze during one of the updates and then it wouldn't load properly, so we had to nuke it again. Finally, we got all the updates on and I started writing. It's an extra long chapter, so be happy.

The part where Harry has the dream is a direct quote from the book until the little part with Michio I added in. I thought that part was amazing, so I had to put it in. Well, anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Review! Oh, and Happy 2011 everyone!


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Naruto, and Shikamaru were with the rest of the Weasleys. They were all outside the Burrow, the snow wiping around their faces. They all wore black. Others were coming to pay their respects to Arthur. Mrs. Weasley had melted all of the snow in a spot right next to the garage. They hadn't gotten around to digging the hole just yet. The funeral was set to start at eleven. It was eight.

A sniffle next to Harry alerted him that Ron was starting to break down already. He couldn't bear to look at him. Ron was the only one he couldn't bare to look at. Harry had been trying to stay awake every night since it happened, but he fell asleep a few times. Ron's comment had really affected him.

Mrs. Weasley told everyone to go inside and get warm. Naruto and Shikamaru followed her in, but everyone else stayed outside. The shinobi looked back to the crowd of huddled people, most with flaming red hair. Bill and Charlie had arrived the day before. Both of them were incredibly shocked at what had happened. They hadn't thougt something like that could have ever happened.

Sakura came that day. She wasn't happy that nobody had told her anything, but she was going to hold her anger in. Everyone was very touchy at the moment, and Sakura didn't want to start anything.

"Naruto, dear, could you help me in here?" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. Naruto went into the kitchen to see food in every place possible. "I forgot to make the Yorkshire pudding. It's Arthur's favorite."

Naruto heard her breath hitch slightly. She stood still for a moment before moving some of the food out of the way. "Could you go get the eggs please?"

Naruto went over to the refrigerator and opened it. It was full of food as well. After searching for a minute, he found the eggs. He turned around to bring them back when he saw Mrs. Weasley's shoulders shaking. He bit his lip. Naruto had no idea what to do in this situation. He gulped nervously and put the eggs on the only counter space left. He then started rubbing Mrs. Weasley's back in comforting circles.

"Oh, dear. I-I'm crying a-again. I c-can't stand not h-having him h-here!" At that, she grabbed Naruto into a big hug and started sobbing on his shoulder. Naruto was shocked for a moment, but he soon started hugging back and rubbing her back. After a while, she backed up and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, dear. You are so sweet."

Naruto smiled for a moment and started rubbing the back of his head. "I was just doing what anyone would do!" She smiled before turning back to the counter. "Oh dear. I think I may have cooked too much."

* * *

Zetsu was getting bored. There were no fights to record, Michio wasn't there to train, so Zetsu couldn't make fun of him, and Voldemort was currently pissed off in his room. Once again, the Akatsuki leader had denied his plea for more help. Due to the lack of anything to do, Zetsu split in half. His white half started running out the door. His black side looked around and sat in the chair.

White Zetsu was jumping over logs and running everywhere he could. He was full of energy and this was the first time he was allowed to split in a long time. He ran up a tree and did a back flip off of it. After that, he noticed that he was naked. He had forgotten that black Zetsu always steals the robe. White Zetsu shrugged and started running again.

Before he knew it, he was in the middle of a town with many people staring at him. Mothers were shielding their children's eyes from the man in front of them. Some of the teenage girls were going a little light-headed at the sight. Finally, a man of a strong build came out of the crowd and glared at white Zetsu. "You will leave right now. You should have clothes on. Seeing as you don't and that you're disturbing the peace here, you will leave now."

White Zetsu suddenly burst out laughing. "This is the first time I've been out and about in a long time! I might as well have fun!" Before the townspeople knew what was happening, Zetsu had produced a sword out of nowhere and was slicing everyone. Screams and blood were flying in every direction. Everyone that was in the middle of the town was left in a pile, their clothes shredded to bits.

Zetsu left the town desolate and stinking of blood. He also left in a very good mood. He didn't even care that he left a blood trail from the blood that was on him. He happily ran full speed back to the house. When he got back in and saw black Zetsu he smiled. "I had fun. You should have come!"

Black Zetsu rose his eyebrows. **"You're covered in blood. What village did you kill?"** White Zetsu shrugged. "I don't know. It was a kilometer from here to the north."

**"That was probably Kangleston. It was a mining village a long time ago. Did you leave a blood trail on purpose?"** white Zetsu looked away at that. Black Zetsu sighed. **"This is exactly the reason I hate letting you roam free. At least when we're together, I can control your impulses better."**

White Zetsu smirked. "Fine. Do I have to go into you again? It's so cramped in there." Black Zetsu rolled his eyes. White Zetsu understood what he meant and melded with black Zetsu. Once again, they were one being.

"Ugh, why did I agree to this?" **"Because you needed to."** The full Zetsu began walking down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Voldemort was waiting for them. "I have a task for you."

Zetsu stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He gave Voldemort a bemused look. "And why would we do **anything for you?**"

It took all of Voldemort's will power not to kill them on the spot. He glared at them and started talking again. "I want you to go talk to an old friend of mine. I want you to persuade him to help me. You will take Michio with you for this." Zetsu blankly looked at Voldemort. "I don't take orders from you."

Voldemort started on his 'I am Lord Voldemort!' rant again. Zetsu merely walked away. He went into the forest and found the blood trail. He swiped his hand at the ground and the blood evaporated. He followed the trail until he sensed someone coming that way. Quickly and effortlessly, he hid his presence in a tree.

A group of five or so men all dressed in uniform were marching down the hill, following the blood trail avidly. They were muttering to each other. Finally, the leader put up his hand. Everyone behind him instantly quieted and stopped moving. The guns in their hands rose slightly. The leader walked to the last place Zetsu had evaporated the blood. The man sniffed once. Then, he sniffed again. When the man whipped around, he distinctly saw a wand in his belt.

"There is no trace of anyone here, yet the blood trail stopped. Any suggestions?" The men whispered some more before one stepped forward. "Why don't we split up and look for the rest of the trail within a thirty mile radius?"

The leader nodded. "We should make it a fifty mile radius, though. We need to find the killer of Kangleston." The men saluted before all going in opposite directions. When the last one disappeared, the leader got down onto the ground and started listening to the ground. He was in that position for another minute before he got back up. "Why don't you come out of that tree, shinobi?"

Zetsu's eyes widened slightly before he did as he was told. The man smirked. "Good. At least the Akatsuki dogs listen." Zetsu's eyes then decided to narrow. The man got a look of mock fear.

"I'm so scared!" Zetsu let out a large amount of killer intent. The man's knees shook a little. "Unfortunately, I could outdo you anytime. All I want to know is how is Konoha these days? I remember when it was just a little town full of tents. Then the First Hokage came around and he created the whole village. Then I deserted in search of immortality and instead wandered into a portal that brought me here. I found my immortality alright. I'm turning four hundred and eighty-five in two months."

Zetsu was currently searching all records of any shinobi that had deserted during the First Hokage's reign. There were only two. Madara Uchiha and an unknown man. This particular man was always seen talking with Madara. They had meeting every other night, which was one of the biggest reasons no one trusted him. He had a son, but left the village before he was born.

"What, are you searching through Konoha's shinobi list of deserters? My names not on there. They didn't want people searching for me. They purposely set up a small hut on the road I was following. It started raining and I went in there to stay dry. The next thing I knew, I was here, in this God forsaken world full of wizards. The portal sealed off my ninjutsu and made me ten years old. It was not fun going back through my teenage years." Zetsu was taking all of this in. He wanted a large compilation of information on this man.

"What is your name?" The man smirked again. "In this world, it's Mark Yould. Back in Konoha, I was known as Takeru Nara."

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were in the living room. They had just changed for the funeral and were currently waiting on Shikamaru. Neither of them knew what to say, so they stuck with silence. Shikamaru came out a moment later. His was shifting uncomfortably in the suit he was in. I looked a little big on him, just as Naruto's did on him. Mrs. Weasley had taken their measurements with tear-filled eyes.

Shikamaru looked at his watch. It was ten-forty. "Should we head out now?" Sakura and Naruto nodded. It was too silent in the Burrow.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, diamonds dancing off the snow. The snow had been melted around the burial site. A coffin was laying inside the hole they had dug. A man who was carrying many muggle instruments, like plugs and wires, came over to them. He handed Naruto a flashlight, Sakura a off white plug, and Shikamaru a handful of wires. When they questioned the man, he told them they were going to put them in the grave.

They went near the grave and saw that Harry and Hermione had still not left the grave. The Weasleys had gone inside to warm up quickly and change. Sakura went over to the and put her hands on their shoulders. "You two should go inside and get changed. It's going to start in twenty minutes."

They nodded and walked back to the Burrow, blank expressions on their faces. Sakura went back to Naruto and Shikamaru, who were looking at the incoming swarm of people. Cars were pulling up in every direction all at once. By the time the funeral had started, there were over fifty people there.

The shinobi stood beside the Golden trio. The funeral was short, but was full of sadness. Every time the preacher gave people a memory that others had written, a fresh sob was heard from the Weasleys. Hermione started crying on Ron's shoulders while he cried staring strait ahead. Harry was shaking, but no one could see his face.

When the service was over, people started coming forward and dropping muggle items into the hole. The Weasleys were the last to go. Mrs. Weasley started, since all of her children were looking at her. She hesitated before letting her item drop. It was a regular picture of the whole Weasley family. Arthur had pleaded with them to get a muggle picture done, so they did. The second she let it go, she hurried off to the house.

The rest of the Weasleys followed her actions. Ron was the last to go. The shinobi, Harry, and Hermione all waited for him. Ron whispered something before dropping his item in that only the shinobi could hear. "I promise I won't let Harry kill anyone else."

Sakura snapped. She went right up to Ron and smacked him across the face. Everyone was staring in shock at what she did. "You need to stop this! It was not his fault that your father died!"

Harry looked away. He blamed himself more than anyone, even though there was no possible way he could have done it. Hermione reminded him no one could ever apparate or disapparate inside of Hogwarts.

"He's been staying up as much as he could lately to try to make sure no one else died! You must have said something that made him do this! Look at his eyes!" She forced Ron to look at Harry. Harry wanted to turn away again, but Hermione forced him to look at Ron.

Ron saw just how tired Harry looked. The bags on his eyes were darker than he had ever seen before. Ron averted his eyes after a moment of staring. Sakura atarted up again. "Just because Harry saw your father die doesn't mean he did it! Harry's and Voldemort's connection is incredibly close! You will forgive him! I can't see another group of friends broken up because of hatred."

Naruto flinched at that. It was his turn to look away. He hadn't realized that that was exactly what could happen to these three if it continued on. He looked up to see Sakura's eyes. They were full of the sorrow that was probably visible in his as well. Shikamaru felt sympathy rush out of hiding.

Harry looked at Ron to see him crying. He looked so broken. How could he ever try to get him to forgive him? "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm s-so sorry!"

Hermione ran to Ron and started hugging him. She started crying too. Harry walked cautiously towards them until Hermione pulled him into the hug as well. Sakura sighed in relief and went back over to Naruto and Shikamaru. She hugged Naruto, who was taken aback for only a moment. He quickly returned the hug and melted into her arms.

Shikamaru felt awkward standing there alone, surrounded by people hugging. 'If only Temari was here... wait, what did I just think?'

He shook his head and was suddenly grabbed by Sakura and pulled into their hug. "Don't feel left out Shikamaru. You are part of this team, you know." He smiled.

Everyone was taken out of their hugging from Mrs. Weasley's shouting. "The food's ready! Come and get it before it gets cold!"

They all put their arms around each other's necks and started walking back to the Burrow. All of them had smiles on their faces, even if they were wet from tears. They finally had a moment of complete friendship. That was the bond that held them together through all of the toughest times. It is also what will hold them together through what is to come.

* * *

Chaos was the only way to describe the events unfolding in Konoha. There was screams of absolute terror that were cut short due to the loss of their life. The Fifth Hokage was ordering her troops from atop the Hokage's building. The walls surrounding three sides of Konoha had been destroyed. Soldiers were piling into Konoha at enormous numbers. Konoha was completely outnumbered.

"Hokage-sama! They have breached out third line of defense! Many of our shinobi are retreating!" Tsunade ran to the edge of the building and shouted, "DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POSTS!"

The messenger ninja that had just appeared was suddenly shot down. Blood spilled out of the opening that the arrow had produced. The man fell to the ground, the blood creating a pool around him. Tsunade turned and saw a man wearing a uniform that she had seen before. It was red and trimmed in black. He wore a belt and his headband had a sign of a ring. These ninja were part of the ancient Yutero clan, a clan that was supposedly wiped out by the First Kazekage. Apparently, there were survivors.

"So you are Tsunade Senju, the First Hokage's granddaughter?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "That must be a yes. Good. It means I can carve you up."

The man produced a kunai and started slicing like a crazy person. Tsunade's reflexes were fast, but his were just slightly faster. She dodged him as much as she possibly could. He managed to slice a shallow cut into her cheek. That made him get incredibly cocky.

"You're no match for me! If I can get a cut on you that fast, then you're pathetic!" The started laughing madly and took after her again. Tsunade dodged the first few slices before he got her in the arm. She grew furious.

She concentrated a lot of her chakra into her left leg and kicked him square in the stomach just as he was about to slice her arm again. He flew backwards and fell unconscious. Tsunade went over to him and grabbed the kunai out of his hands. She proceeded to stab him repeatedly until she was sure there was no way he was coming back.

She let out a long breath before going to the edge of the building again. For some reason, things had gotten eerily silent. Tsunade closed her eyes and let her senses take over.

She heard a whimper of pain right below her. To her left, she heard the cracking of a fire. Off to her right, she heard the sound of two people running up the side of the building. Instantly, she got herself in ready position to be greeted by Kakashi and Yamato. She took a deep breath. "How does it look down there?"

What you could see of Kakashi's face told the whole story. "Our shinobi have been reduced to a third of our original amount." Tsunade gritted her teeth. How could this have happened?

"What about the enemy? What has happened to them?" Yamato answered this time. "They believe all our shinobi are dead. They are currently regrouping to take over the village."

Tsunade looked over to the man she had killed. "He must have been sent to kill their last big obstacle. Too bad they put all of their trust in this man. He has way to much of an ego."

"Glad you noticed. Too bad he wasn't the one they sent." All three of them whipped around to see another man. He was dressed the same as the other man, but he wore a large necklace. It was completely green, with gems glistening on it. Tsunade narrowed her eyes yet again.

"I'm the strongest man in the Koyama group!" Tsunade had questions rung through her head. "Why are you calling yourselves the Koyama if you are wearing the symbol of the Yutero clan?"

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know of the Yutero clan?" Tsunade laughed. "My grandfather was the one who suggested peace with you people. When you refused, my grandfather and the First Kazekage decided to wipe you off the face of the earth."

"You know nothing of what we had to put up with! For years, my ancestors were attacked by leaf shinobi and sand shinobi! It didn't matter if it was a child or a full grown adult! YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Tsunade was taken aback. That was not what it said in the history archives.

"That's not true. Your people started attacking us! We never attacked you!" He laughed sickeningly. "Yeah, that's what they wanted you to believe."

Without warning, he disappeared and started doing hand signs. Out of nowhere, a giant wave slammed on top of them. Tsunade was wipped around until she felt her head come in contact with the building. Her vision went fuzzy and dots started dancing in front of her. Her head burst into pain. As the water left, Kakashi and Yamato ran over to help her up. They had dodged the wave by using chakra to hold their feet to the building.

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?" Tsunade gripped her throbbing head and nodded slowly, feeling her head send out another spark of pain. She looked up to see the Yutero shinobi being attacked by another shinobi. Tsunade squinted for a moment before she realized who it was. Her eyes widened.

"How could... but..." Kakashi and Yamato followed her gaze. Their reactions were identical. There was no way that that person was there. They couldn't be there. There was no possible way for them to be there. "It can't really be..."

* * *

I am the most evil person on the planet. I thought the little thing on Zetsu was funny. I have no idea where it came from. When I had them separate, I made them have two separate bodies instead of two halves of a body. There faces were full.

I'm sorry that this is such a short chapter. I wanted to stop there. I wasn't even planning on putting Konoha in any chapters, but it worked out. Except for all the people who are not happy with the lack of information.

Anyway, I'll try updating as soon as possible. I'm in the school play, so I'm at the school from 7:15 to 5 everyday. I hate getting up so early and then staying at the school until really late. Oh, I might be putting snakes somewhere in the next couple of chapters because my character in the play is a snake charmer, so I'm obsessed. We're doing a comedy called Krazy Kamp.

Okay, getting off of my random typing about unimportant stuff, I hope you enjoyed the (short) chapter!

P.S. If you love Fullmetal Alchemist, I am your new best friend. I have become obsessed! XD


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Sakura was currently in the Hogwarts Express going back to Hogwarts. She was in the corner of her compartment reading the new book Hermione had gotten her for Christmas. It was a very nice book that was leather bound. It was called, "100 Useful Spells in Medicine". Sakura was in deep reading when Naruto came crashing in. He was holding the _Daily Prophet_.

"Look at the front page!" He flattened the newspaper out in front of her. The title read:

**MASS BREAKOUT FROM ASKABAN**

"Isn't this the wizard prison with all of the extremely dangerous criminals?" Naruto nodded. "I asked Harry."

Sakura stared at the paper in disbelief. "We need to start the fighting group soon. We can't leave all of the students unprepared any longer." Naruto nodded again. He grabbed the newspaper again and started flipping through it, though it was obvious he wasn't taking any of it in.

"Naruto..." He flipped to the next page. "I know it's not fair that horrible things are happening here as well. These things are the exact things you think only happen in our world, but suffering happens no matter where you go."

"I know. That's what makes it so hard. I want to stop all suffering." He lowered the newspaper and stared directly into Sakura's eyes. "I'd gladly give up my life to stop the suffering in this world."

Sakura felt worry flood through her. He didn't mean he would truly do that, would he? "Naruto, promise me something. Promise me you won't ever die and leave me behind alone. I wouldn't be able to handle loosing both of my teammates. And I wouldn't be able to loose my one true love."

Naruto's face melted at that. He broke out into a grin. "I won't if it means causing you too much loneliness."

Sakura smiled, but she knew that it wasn't true. She had a gut feeling that it wasn't true. Naruto just wasn't that type of person. He'd give up his life for the greater good any day. Then, he'd tell her not to be sad and to carry on no matter what. He'd tell her to live her life and forget about him. The problem is, she wouldn't be able to. Not even if he told her to.

Naruto sat down next to Sakura. A little while later, Sakura snuggled up next to Naruto and started hugging him. He was taken off guard, but he quickly started hugging her back. They stayed like this for a very long time.

Shikamaru had been in Harry, Hermione, and Ron's compartment the whole train ride. Naruto was originally with them, but when he asked where Sakura was, he wanted to leave instantly. Harry then gave him the paper and told him to show Sakura. Naruto's face lost it's elation and he hurried out of there.

Now that Shikamaru thought about it, before Harry gave Naruto the paper, Naruto's eyes had a lustful glint in them. It was almost as if he was picturing very dirty things happening in Sakura's compartment. Shikamaru started to stand when the train jerked to a stop. "All students may proceed to get off of the train. We have arrived at Hogwarts."

Shikamaru bit his lip. He grabbed his trunk and got off the train. He looked all over the landing, but did not see them anywhere. He left his trunk and got back on the train. He pushed through the students exiting the train to get to the compartment where he knew Naruto and Sakura were. When he got there, he saw that the blinds were shut. His breath hitched. 'They didn't..._do_ it, did they?'

He took a deep breath and cracked the door open slightly. He let out his breath in relief and opened the door completely. They had fallen asleep in each others arms, fully clothed. It looked like Naruto had lost his thoughts when he saw the paper.

"Guys, we're at Hogwarts," They jerked awake at my loud voice and nodded, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Sakura looked over to me after she got her trunk.

"Shikamaru, why are you blushing?" Shikamaru stiffened. "I'm not. I'm just cold."

Sakura shrugged and they all left the train. The golden trio were on the landing waiting for them. "Did you guys fall asleep or something?" Hermione asked, a certain tone in her voice. The two shinobi nodded.

"Honestly, if Shikamaru wasn't here, you two would have been on your way back to London by now," They heard the train jolt to life and saw it start to move away, leaving the castle until the end of the year. The three shinobi got a foreboding feeling that it would be the last time they'd ever see it.

They started towards the castle, listening to the birds as they found the final carriage. They were talking all the way to the castle, laughing as they walked into the Great Hall for dinner. It was then that they remembered they were back in hell. At one time, they would have all been happy to be back at Hogwarts, the place they loved. Now, they wished they were back at the burrow, even if it was incredibly depressing there.

The Great Hall was filled with silence. There was the clanking of silverware and goblets, but otherwise, it was silent. Umbridge was smirking and eating in the front of them, watching over the students and the teachers in the back. Umbridge dismissed them and they all went straight to their dormitories.

The Gryiffindor common room was brimming with talk. Stories were flying all around the room. Naruto walked to Harry and sat down next to him with a giddy look on his face.

"What? Did you two finally start snogging?" Naruto blushed heavily. "No! We just fell asleep on the train. That was it! Nothing happened!"

"Oh, well in that case..." Harry opened a book and started to read it. Naruto got frustrated and decided to leave. "See if I ever come to you for advice!"

Harry started laughing. "God, you're so gullible! Sit down. What do you need advice on? If it's girls, I'm not the one to go to. I have enough girl troubles as it is." Naruto thought for a moment before saying, "I need to find out how to make a girl not hit you when you do something stupid."

Harry burst out laughing again. "Hah! Good luck with that one! Girls have a tendency to do that no matter what you try to do!" Harry's smile faltered when he saw Naruto grow a little sad. "Look, I know you love Sakura and you don't want anything bad to happen, but my only advice is: Don't do anything that will get you hit."

Naruto smiled. "Too bad I pretty much run into trouble at the first sign of it. That's what tends to get me yelled at and hit the most. I just wish there was a way to change my personality so I wouldn't do stupid things."

"It's part of having a girlfriend," Harry smiled and stretched. "Well, I'm going to bed now. 'Night, Naruto."

"G'night, Harry."

* * *

Sun streamed through the windows and startled Michio awake. He was having a great dream that involved torturing Sasuke to the point that he begged to be killed. Now, Michio was very upset that it would never come true. The next best thing was getting more powerful than Sasuke.

Michio jumped out of the very uncomfortable bed and dressed quickly. He grabbed his katana and rushed out the door. He made his way downstairs to see Zetsu with a man next to him. The man wore a formfitting green and black uniform. There was a red x with a line over it in the corner of the uniform, which was the insignia of a local police group. The man had blonde hair that was getting unruly and was falling into his eyes. He had a sweet look in his eyes, but the scar on his cheek completely killed the nice look.

"Oh great, another freak to add to the bucket. Hi, I'm Michio, the freak who has an obsession with thinking of new ways to kill my rival. He's already dead, by the way," Michio then pointed to Zetsu and said, "That is Zetsu, the freak who knows _everything _and can split in half with a new personality for each half. Creepy, right? Well, don't even get me started on the freak known as Voldemort, or Voldy for short-"

"What was that? I'm a freak? With the nickname...oh what was it... Voldy? Are you looking for an early death?" Michio snorted. "You couldn't kill me if you tried."

Takeru intervened. "Ahh! My good friend, how are you doing these days?" Voldemort glared at Michio for a moment more before deciding to change where his attention was being directed. "Takeru, good. I was just about to send those two out to find you."

"You didn't need to. I had just been sent out to do my daily rounds of Kangleston and Houtenne when my men saw that the people of Kangleston had mysteriously been slaughtered. Naturally, we followed the blood trail until it vanished into thin air. Zetsu should learn how to hide a bit better. I could sense him from a mile away."

"Now, now, Zetsu was the best that the Akatsuki sent me. I'm sure he's well trained," Takeru laughed. "He obviously wasn't instructed by Madara. Otherwise, not even a God would be able to sense him."

Voldemort became very interested. "This... Madara... character, is he powerful?"

Takeru suddenly became very tall. "He's not powerful, he's at the level of a God. He's also very brilliant, seeing as he managed to stay alive long after his time in a much better fashion that Orochimaru." Michio proceeded to snort again. Takeru sent a look to Michio. "Do you disagree with this?"

"You bet I do. Orochimaru-sama could kill Madara anyday. He's an old freak of nature who shouldn't be alive except to give a lot of techniques to Orochimaru-sama. Then again, he did favor Sasuke over me, so I should hate him and be glad he's gone." This surprised Takeru.

"Orochimaru is dead? How?" Michio started glaring at the wall. "Sasuke."

Takeru didn't understand what that met, but he just went with the flow. "Right, so Sasuke is powerful, right? I'd love to battle him someday." Michio snorted again. "What is it this time?"

"Sasuke's dead too. Unfortunately, I didn't get the luxury of killing him myself. If I did, he'd be cut up into so many tiny pieces, they'd never be able to find it!" As Michio was having his mini sadistic attack, Voldemort was showing Takeru the house, leaving Zetsu to deal with Michio.

"How'd you manage to get this place? What rich, important person did you kill this time?" Voldemort smirked. "I didn't kill anyone this time. At least, not directly. I may have poisoned the old mans drink one night that resulted in his death. Then I may have taken the next of kin who would inherit the house and tortured him, indirectly of course, until he gave me the house for free."

Takeru burst out laughing. "I knew you couldn't get anything without killing someone in the process. Now, you need to tell me why you want to hire me again." Voldemort sat down in a very cushioned chair and gestured for Takeru to sit in the other chair.

"To say the least, I have it on good authority that one of the shinobi that is helping Harry Potter is a descendant of yours," Takeru gave Voldemort a bemused look. "I'd very much like to meet this descendant of mine. I'd like to see what abilities this kid's got and see if he'll ever be able to become powerful, though if he's anything like my pathetic excuse for a wife, he's lazy and likes shougi."

* * *

It was starting to get light out when Shikamaru jerked awake. He was remembering a very strange dream he had. It was vivid enough that he thought it was really happening. Especially the part when this relative killed him.

He got out of bed and stretched. He looked at his watch and saw it was only 6:24. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and changed his clothes, wishing it was later. He groggily went downstairs and sat on the couch. He looked at the ashes in the fire and was struck by a thought. The relative in the dream did resemble his father quite a lot. He never did know his grandfather, but that would be impossible. His grandfather was at least eighty or ninety. To add to it, this world goes much faster than his world.

He sat there, pondering over his dream for a while before Hermione came downstairs. "What are you doing up so early? I thought I was the only one who ever got up this early."

"I had a weird dream. Couldn't fall back asleep." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before responding. "What was this dream of yours about?"

Shikamaru didn't want to tell her because he still didn't trust her. He still didn't trust much of anyone in this world. Hermione was a nice, smart girl, but he just couldn't trust someone so easily.

"Well, there was a large panda bear that was eating its way through large bamboo trees and it ended up sucking up the girl I like from my world. Then I started attacking it wildly, but it didn't do anything. I felt useless." Shikamaru felt proud of himself for thinking that up on the spot. He hoped that she wouldn't figure out that it was a cover up.

"Well, that _is_ a weird dream. When you said it was a weird dream, I didn't realize just how strange it was." She smiled and walked out of the common room. Shikamaru sighed and decided to get down to breakfast.

On his way down, he thought about how much harder this mission was than he wanted it to be. When Tsunade informed him of the situation, he expected to just fight off certain people and not people he potentially knew or was related to.

"Hey! Shikamaru!" Shikamaru turned around and saw Ron running up to him. "Man, you're up early! I was hoping you'd seen Hermione come by. I was supposed to go with her to the library so she could do my- I mean help me with my potions essay. We were supposed to do it over break, but I completely forgot." His face fell for a moment, most likely at the thought of his father.

"Yeah, I saw her in the common room. She did seem like she was waiting for a moment. You better hurry up." Ron nodded and took off down the hall. Shikamaru wished he could have a life like Ron's, minus his father dying. That was an unfair thing that happened in his life.

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. He started for the Great Hall again when he saw a little boy dart out from behind a pillar and go behind another one. Shikamaru slowly made his way to the pillar when the boy took off again, going back to the original pillar. Shikamaru creeped towards the pillar for a moment before jumping around and grabbing the boy.

"AH!" Upon closer examination, this boy was in Ravenclaw and was holding a poster. The boy looked at him for a moment before holding the poster out with amarker in the other hand.

The poster had a picture of a movie ninja, dressed all in black. Shikamaru stared at it for a moment before looking at the boy again. He was smiling. "Can you sign it?" Shikamaru rose his eyebrows. "Umm, why?"

The boy blinked a few times before saying, "Because you are a ninja! You're from Japan, right? That means you must be ninja!" Shikamaru forced a smile and signed it. He didn't know where this boy could've thought anything like that and he didn't know why he thought he was from...Japan? What was that? What kind of place would be called Japan?

The boy smiled and said, "Thanks!" He ran off, beaming the whole way. Shikamaru's eyes rose again. 'Are they going to do that to Sakura and Naruto too?' Shikamaru turned around and instantly thought, 'Speak of the devil!'

Naruto and Sakura were being asked for their signatures from the boy. He was obviously a first year, but he acted so much like a little kid. Did that stage ever happen to us? Shikamaru sighed again and smiled lazily. Maybe being in this mission was a good thing after all. It was bringing them back to their child hood, however little of it that they were able to experience.

After they finished their signatures, they came over, the same facial expressions on their faces. Shikamaru read their thoughts. "Yeah, I know. I don't know why he thinks we are from this place called Japan and I don't know why he thinks we are ninja just because we come from this Japan place."

"Well, it doesn't bother me at all!" Naruto was grinning, obvious joy emitting off of him. He'd do anything to be able to get someone to remember him. Anything to get away from his past.

"I'm surprised you're up so early, Naruto. This is a first." Naruto stuck his tongue out at Shikamaru when a voice suddenly reverberated through the hall. "All students will now proceed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Please remember to be silent while you are eating." Naruto's eye twitched. "We will never be able to get away from her!"

They slowly made there way to the death trap. The teachers were still all along the back wall, eating silently. Professor McGonagall glanced up as Naruto walked by and gave him a look. Naruto knew what he had to do.

"Hey, lets go." Shikamaru and Sakura looked him like he was crazy. "What are you doing?" They followed him, to make sure he didn't do anything too crazy. When he walked out of the great hall, they grew even more confused.

They walked until they were well away from the great hall and they stopped. Shikamaru and Sakura were both waiting for an explanation. "Okay, what is going on? Why did we leave?"

"Professor McGonagall told me she found out how to get Dumbledore back to the school. She told us it was time to get him back here." Shikamaru understood, but Sakura was still slightly lost. "Okay, how could she possibly know where he was when no one else did?"

"With this." Naruto held out a book. Naruto opened it and put his wand on it. A map appeared out of no where. It was of a island that had a total of five people on it. Two of them were still babies.

"He's on this island? Why?" Shikamaru answered this time. "That's where all the wizards go, if they have enough power, to get away from something. Lots of headmasters have fled here in the past."

"So, how do we get him back?" Naruto smiled. "Follow me."

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were getting worried. They saw the three shinobi walk out of the great hall, but they hadn't seen them since. They wanted to go find them, but Umbridge's stare was cutting into their necks. She had, no doubt, noticed the absence of the foreign exchange students, but she had yet to do anything about it.

Near the end of the extra silent breakfast, the doors opened, squealing and squeaking. Everyone turned their gaze to the door and started smiling, happier than they had been in days. Albus Percieval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was back. Dolores Umbridge was pissed. All was right with the world.

"What are you doing here, Dumbledore? I thought you were gone for good!" Umbridge's pudgy body was racing down the middle of the great hall. Dumbledore merely beamed.

"The students needed me to come back, so I came. Don't worry, I smoothed everything over with the Minister of Magic. You will be returning to your post in the Ministry tomorrow." The whole hall erupted into cheering. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru were standing behind Dumbledore and were being hugged to death by the teachers. Professor McGonagall was especially grateful for what they did.

"Everyone! You may finish your breakfast and leave when you are done. There are no classes today, alright?" The whole hall (minus Hermione) began cheering even louder. For once, it seemed like Hogwarts was to be at peace. Even the Slytherin students were happy.

"Now, Dolores, if you will, let's go gather your things." Umbridge was completely frozen in place. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way she could be kicked out so easily.

"I will remain at this school! You can not sack me without a letter by the Minister!" Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle prominent in his eyes. "We'll sort everything out later. Come."

They left chaos in the great hall. The teachers were moving the tables back to the front of the hall while students were celebrating. The shinobi and Golden Trio met up and hugged. "Thank you so much!"

Hermione was practically in tears she was so happy. She hugged all of them. "We are finally free from her!"

* * *

I am insanely sorry for the lack of updating. When the play started, I guess I just kinda gave up. Then it ended and I didn't want to do anything but relax. I wasn't really happy with this chapter, because now my story is going somewhere else. I need to figure some things out, but it should be all good after that. Also, I'm sorry for the shortness.

The next will be longer and updated faster. I have a sudden urge to write this story and it's all thanks to a certain person who messaged me to get me to write. This chapter is dedicated to them. ^.^ Thank you!

**Update: To everyone who already read this chapter and may have been re-reading this story, I fixed my mistake earlier in this chapter with the whole Voldemort/Orochimaru mix up. I hope it makes more sense now. I'm so glad I re-read this chapter.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The week flew by. Everyone in Hogwarts was still on a high from Umbridge being sacked. Their sub DADA teacher was none other than Snape, but even he seemed slightly more forgiving this week.

Naruto and Sakura had been growing closer every day, now that there wasn't nearly as much to worry about. Shikamaru constantly felt like the third wheel, so he found solace in the library. Yes, for one time in Shikamaru's life, he was happy to be studying. It kept his mind off of all the crap going on.

"You've been in here a lot lately, Shikamaru," He lifted his head to see Hermione. In her arms were enough books to fill a shelf on a bookshelf. He glanced over them and saw they were all on defensive spells and offensive spells. He knew exactly what it was for.

"Now that Umbridge is gone, we probably don't have to do it in secret." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Umbridge was only one of the people who would love to expel us. There are still a lot of people in this school who would have a field day knowing that we were doing this. We need to do it in secret if we have any chance of defending the kids in this school."

Shikamaru nodded, not really caring. From the books he already read on defensive and offensive spells, they would need a really good teacher to pull it off. None of the spells that would actually work against a death eater were simple.

"Whatever you say, Hermione. Did you see where Naruto and Sakura were?" She shook her head, "No, sorry."

Shikamaru and Hermione parted, Hermione's books almost falling out of her hands. She managed to grab a few of the books before they fell, claiming she had lots of practice over the years.

Shikamaru chuckled and went back to his book. He was reading up on the history of the Ministry of Magic. It seemed they had some incredibly dark times in their past. For one, there were a few mysterious deaths in a room called the Department of Mysteries. One of the deaths was skimmed over, but there was a definite report of strangulation by... tentacles? Shikamaru rose his eyebrow before shaking his head. 'They probably miss-typed it.'

He shut the book and sighed. It almost seemed as though the Ministry of Magic was more screwed up than Konoha's government and that was pretty bad. Especially if they sent a teenager to kill his clan off.

Shikamaru brought most of the books back, but he decided to take the one out on the Ministry. It might prove useful to know where things were in there.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were snogging in the common room. Everyone glanced over and chuckled. They had been doing this for the past couple of hours. Shikamaru came in around 10 in the morning and rolled his eyes. He really wished they could hold it in for ten minutes. He went over and nudged Naruto's leg. Naruto pulled away from the make-out session and looked at Shikamaru. "What? I'm kinda busy."

Shikamaru really wanted to slap him. "Harry, Ron and Hermione want to talk to us. We're meeting in the room of requirement."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other sadly. They reluctantly got up and held hands. They would much rather be eating each others faces off. Shikamaru almost vomited in his mouth at the image, but decided just to just lead the way.

He was very happy to say they managed to stay off of each others mouths for the whole walk there. Once they entered, however, they started up again. At least until Hermione coughed slightly.

"Alright. We have decided to start up the fighting group this week. Umbridge may be gone, but I won't be surprised if the ministry sends someone else in her place. That person will be even worse than Umbridge. We will definitely need to know how to fight at that point. Also, we really want to be able to defend ourselves in case we lose our wands." The shinobi nodded.

Sakura asked, "When will we meet?" Hermione smiled. "Tomorrow night at seven. I've already gotten the word out to the other students involved."

The shinobi got very formal and bowed to them. The golden trio was baffled as to why they would do that, but they said nothing. The shinobi quickly started planning what moves to teach them, but Hermione interrupted pretty fast. "We decided we weren't going to teach any martial arts on the first couple of meetings. The others don't need to know about that stuff quite yet."

The shinobi nodded and dismissed themselves. The golden trio smiled. "It's finally beginning."

* * *

Takeru, Michio, Zetsu, and Voldemort were sitting at a table, drinking tea. Takeru seemed way too happy and nonchalant. Michio kept giving him weird looks. He didn't understand how he could still be alive, he must've been nearing... no, there was no way.

Zetsu was observing the whole situation. He saw Michio giving Takeru strange looks, which he guessed would have happened. Takeru Nara was a legend in the shinobi world. Voldemort, on the other hand, was acting as though Takeru was an old friend. Takeru's body language was saying they had met a few times, but not enough to be friends. His hand would ever so slightly twitch towards his sword and kunai.

"Well, since we've all gotten used to each other, explain to me what you want me to do exactly?" Takeru looked directly at Voldemort. Voldemort smiled sickly.

"Well, for now, I just want you to watch them. When I say them, I mostly mean Harry Potter and his two little friends. I want to know what they're planning. It's bound to be stupid, but I'd still like to know what they're trying to do. I also want you to watch the three shinobi. After dealing with you shinobi, I know now to keep a closer eye on them." He glanced at Michio, who wasn't paying any attention.

Takeru stretched and put his arms behind his head. "That seems easy enough. I can do that no problem. Now, what do I want you to do for me..."

Voldemort gave Takeru a bewildered look. "What do you mean? You just need to do my bidding and everything will be fine! I will not degrade myself and do something for another person!"

Takeru stared at him for a moment before he burst out in wild laughter. Michio jumped at the sudden noise and Zetsu smirked. Voldemort, on the other hand, was fuming. "And _what_ is so funny?"

Takeru stifled his laughter and said, "Do you honestly think I would just do what you want and ask for nothing in return?" He could no longer hold in his laughter. It burst forth once again, only this time, Michio joined in on the laughing. Voldemort's furious look only enhanced the sound of laughter until he broke the table into many pieces.

"YOU WILL NOT LAUGH IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GREAT LORD VOLDEMORT! YOU WILL DO MY BIDDING WITHOUT QUESTION OR YOU WILL BE SLAUGHTERED BY MY WAND!" Voldemort was glaring like he had never glared before. There was no laughter when he was finished. Takeru cleared his throat and smiled. "Good, the real Voldemort is there. I thought for sure you were an imposter when you didn't attack me right off the bat."

Voldemort's eye twitched and he sat back down in his chair. He was not thrilled that he was forced to break his favorite table. But there is a reason for having his wand. He pulled his wand out and repaired the table within seconds.

"Now then, I want you to leave as soon as possible. I need all the information possible." Takeru nodded and stood up. "Might as well go now. There's no point in sticking around much longer when there's a job to be done."

A few seconds later, Takeru disappeared. Voldemort smirked and said, "Now that he is spying on them, my plan can begin."

* * *

It was 7 the following night. The shinobi were just outside the Room of Requirement. Once they got in, they were greeted by a roomful of people. Even they were surprised at the number of people who actually showed. They quickly sat and Hermione stood up, knees slightly wobbly. "Er...hi."

The room was deathly silent. "So today... we're having a meeting for the...erm..." Harry and Ron nodded her on. "We are having a meeting for the fighting group type thing...erm..."

Sakura was slightly surprised that Hermione was having such a problem with this. She was a very good speaker normally. "What shoulc we call it?"

The room was quiet. She waited a few seconds before someone shouted out, "How about Warriors of Hogwarts?" "No, that's stupid. Fighting with Love is much better." "That's just creepy!"

The room burst into noise, which startled Hermione. After a few more moments, Ginny yelled at the top of her lungs, "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!"

The room became silent. They were all contemplating that particular name. Smiles were seen on many of their faces. "That's the ministry's worst nightmare, right? It would be the perfect name."

Agreement rolled throughout the room. Hermione smiled and wrote the name on the top of a piece of parchment. She then proceeded to have everyone in the room sign if they were going to partake in the group. Many protested due to the lack of speaking from Harry, who would be their instructor. Harry swallowed and stood.

"What do you want me to say?" For a few seconds, the room was quiet. Then one person asked, "What will you be teaching us?"

"Well, I plan on teaching you to be both on offensive and defensive at all times. Also, the three transfer students," He nodded to them, "will be teaching you basic martial arts in case you loose your wand in battle."

They were awed. Harry thought his explanation would make them laugh, not make them really want to do it. "Do you know anything at all about any defensive or offensive spells? Why would I blindly follow you when you don't know what you're doing?"

A boy with blonde hair with a rather aggressive face was standing. Hermione butted in and answered. "Harry has done more to protect the people he cares about than you've ever done."

"Like what? And, also, how can we know for a fact that You-Know-Who's really back? We only have what Dumbledore spewed to us last year. There weren't any details at all!" The blonde boy would not leave Harry's gaze.

Ron spoke up. "Who are you?"

"Zacharias Smith. I'm in Hufflepuff." Ron almost started laughing. He sounded very proud at the fact he was in Hufflepuff.

"Look, if any of you want a detailed account on what happened, then you shouldn't be here, cause I'm not telling you." Harry sat back down.

The room was silent again. Then, Neville spoke. "I remember in our first year, you saved that stone from You-Know-Who."

Everyone was surprised. Slightly at the fact that Neville spoke and slightly at the fact that Harry did that. Terry Boot asked, "Did you really kill that basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office?"

Harry nodded, not sure why everyone was suddenly listing off the things he had done. "And last year, you were in the Triwizard Tournament. That must've been very hard."

Harry looked over and saw Cho smiling at him. He cracked a smile back, suddenly feeling nervous. "Last summer, you had to fight off those two dementors."

"Yeah, but I had help with a lot of that stuff." About twenty minutes later, after many uproars from the crowd about it, everyone was finally signing the parchment. As they signed their names, they were given a coin that would burn slightly when Hermione put the time and day on it from her's. She said she got the idea from the dark marks on Death Eaters.

Hermione was beaming non-stop. She believed it went very well. Ron was also pleased, but still wasn't sure if it was the best idea. Harry was just happy it was over.

The last three to sign were the shinobi. They were all smiling. "That went very well. I'm really glad it went so well."

Hermione answered Sakura, "Those are our thoughts exactly."

* * *

A few weeks had gone by and they had been to seven D.A. meetings. They were extremely pleased with how well everyone was doing. The progress was astounding. It was 6:30 for this meeting, because this was the first martial arts meeting. The shinobi were nervous, but ready.

Once everyone had piled in, Hermione stood. "Today is our first martial arts meeting. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru will be heading this meeting."

Everyone clapped and Shikamaru sighed. They had elected him the speaker, since Naruto would screw it up and Sakura didn't want to. He stood up and walked to the front. Everyone was intently listening, eager for their first instructions.

"The reason we've decided to teach you basic martial art skills is simple. If you loose your wand, what are you going to do? Are you just going to hope you manage to get your wand back? Are you going to hope you hit the opponent correctly the first time to knock him down? Or, are you going to let yourself die. We want to teach you how to first off, hit an opponent correctly to knock them down and secondly, to do this in a timely fashion. You need to be very quick if you want to do it correctly."

Sakura and Naruto stood and went to the front. "These two will be demonstrating a small spar using some of the methods we'll be teaching you. Then, you'll be getting your arm and leg weights."

The room murmured. What did they mean, leg weights? Naruto and Sakura bowed and got into starting positions. Then, they attacked. Naruto ran foreward and tried a side cut to Sakura's left side, but she dodged it. Sakura then maneuvered to try and kick Naruto, but he blocked that with his thigh. They jumped apart and tried again. This time, Sakura tried a punch to the face, which hit dead on. Naruto fell back a bit, but instantly dove to the floor and took out her feet. She fell with a thud.

Naruto helped her up and she smirked. "Well, looks like you beat me. This time." They bowed to each other again and sat down. Everyone burst into applause. Shikamaru smirked. They showed them more than they needed to, but they were moving too fast for any of them to see what they were doing.

"You probably won't get that fast, but you will be much faster. Now, make a line to get your leg weights." Someone shouted out and asked, "Why do we need arm and leg weights?"

"They will make you faster, believe it or not. Every time you make a move, that move will steadily get faster with those weights on. It's best to start using them from the beginning." Nobody seemed too pleased they had to wear them, but they reluctantly put them on anyway.

"Now, partner up and do this to each other." Naruto and Sakura stood again and showed Sakura attempting to punch Naruto in the face, but him correctly blocking it with his arms in an X. Everyone looked at them like they were crazy. Naruto looked at the crowd.

"Come on, it's not that hard! Do it!" Everyone's first attempts were very amusing. One group didn't even know how to punch them correctly, so they ended up hurting their knuckles. Then again, the weights weren't helping too much either.

An hour later, they changed it to kicking and blocking it with their thigh. They spent the rest of the time on this move, since it was harder than the last one. Neville couldn't block it fast enough. He was constantly getting hit in shin and loosing his balance. Naruto went over there and showed him exactly what to do.

He still hadn't gotten it by the end, but had gotten much better. Everyone was dismissed at exactly nine. They went out in pairs, a minute in between them. The last ones in there were the shinobi and Golden Trio. The shinobi weren't expecting the comments they got from Harry and Hermione. They were very happy with what happened. Ron was still rubbing his forearms from the first exercise, but he agreed it went well as well.

"You three can go next. Since it was our lesson, we'll clean up," said Sakura. Naruto gave her a bewildered look. He could not believe that she would say something like that.

"Alright. Then we'll go. We're probably going to go straight to bed, so see you tomorrow?" Harry said. Naruto nodded enthusiastically. Sakura went right over and started to pick up the books that had come flying off the wall when Ginny accidentally kicked Dean's thigh too hard and he fell back into the bookshelf, resulting in a number of books falling.

Shikamaru was repairing the broken table that Fred fell on when George punched his arms too hard. Naruto was picking up the cushions that were all over the room as various people kicked them or threw them at each other. In about ten minutes, they were done.

They walked out of the Room of Requirement and went back to the common room. They were laughing as they went up to their room. They went in and changed into pajamas. There were times when Sakura was extra grateful for the bathroom installed in their room.

They talked a bit about other moves they would be teaching them before finally going to bed. As they drifted off to sleep, there was a figure who ran down the side of the castle. When it reached the ground, it took off for the forbidden forest. It stopped some way in and took off it's hood.

Takeru was smirking. He had gotten a bit of information that would please Voldemort quite a bit. Not to mention he now knew exactly what his great, great, great grandson looked like.

* * *

I am so bad at keeping promises with this story and it makes me feel horrible. School has been both very good, but very horrible. I've got four regents and probably around two or three finals. Not looking forward to it. Sorry for the shortness of the chapter too. Well, I hope you enjoyed.

They never once mentioned any bathrooms in the common room or any of the dormitories, so where are they? I mean, what if they've really got to go in the middle of the night? That would really suck if there weren't any bathrooms and they had to leave the common room every time. Anyway, that's all.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

D.A. lessons were going very well. Harry and Hermione had taken out quite a few library books that showed some more advanced spells than they had been teaching. They were spells they would probably need. Ron wasn't really helping much and seemed slightly outcast. He was the one who never thought any of it was a good idea.

Shikamaru made a list overnight of all the basic skills they would probably need. Naruto and Sakura weren't sure if they would actually have enough time for all of them.

Along with their D.A. meetings, they also had to worry about the upcoming OWLs. That was sure to be real fun, though Hermione was enjoying all the work she had to do.

As a month went by and it dragged into February, then March, all the fifth years were starting to panic. Loads of homework was dumped onto them. They were hardly staying on top of it all along with D.A. lessons two to three times a week. When the next D.A. meeting came, they had to make a decision.

When everyone entered (a few said they weren't coming due to too much homework), Hermione stood. "It seems like the majority of this group is made up of fifth years. We have our OWLs this year and the professors are giving us more and more homework in order to prepare us. Ron, Harry, and I have all decided that we are going to limit the amount of D.A. meetings we have to one every other week-"

She was abruptly cut off when a huge uproar began. Nobody wanted to have to wait two weeks to have a meeting.

"We aren't all fifth years!"

"Some of us really need the improvement!"

"It's not fair to those of us who want to anyway!"

The uproar continued until Naruto jumped up and yelled, "SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

The room grew silent instantly. Harry gave Naruto a grateful look before standing in front. "Look, we know you all really want to keep doing the D.A. anyway, but fifth years are getting swamped and we can't keep up with the homework and studying. We will still do it, but it has to be limited. I'm sorry."

That ended the meeting. Most of them stormed out angrily. Harry rolled his eyes. Ginny took out her wand, looked at the cushions still piled up and flicked her wand. The cushions went flying in all directions.

Ron yelled at her, but she only slammed the door behind her. Hermione sighed. "Well, that could have gone better."

They all left the Room of Requirement and went back to the common room. Hermione and Harry didn't really want to, since they were going to be blamed for it, so they detoured to the library. It was only 6:40, since they didn't have a full meeting.

Shikamaru followed them and left Naruto and Sakura. Ron had wondered off when he saw Naruto and Sakura getting closer and closer together, lips brushing against each other.

They were alone and used that to their advantage. Quickly, their tongues found each other and battled for dominance. Naruto was getting slightly ravenous as he started sucking her lip. She moaned in happiness.

His hand slid down from her face and slowly made its way down her side. It suddenly squeezed at a certain area and Sakura jumped back. She got ready to slap him, but he ducked.

"What was that? Why did you do that?" He slunk back a bit. "I love you so much. It just kinda happened."

"Well, I don't like it. It's way too soon to do anything like that. Sasuke would never have-" Her eyes widened when she realized what she had said. Naruto's, on the other hand, narrowed.

"...I should've known you were never over him. Why did I ever believe you were truly over him?" He turned away and started walking, Sakura stuttering his name quietly.

"N-Naruto, please, N-Naruto!"

* * *

The room was pitch black by the time Naruto finally went back to the dormitory. Shikamaru had come back earlier. He heard Sakura crying and saw Naruto not there. He said nothing and went straight to bed. Sakura had cried herself to sleep.

Naruto grabbed some pajamas and went to the bathroom. He looked at the mirror and saw his tear-stained face, his eyes red and puffy. He sighed and washed his face. Quickly, he changed and left the bathroom. He laid down on his bed, but sleep refused to come to him, no matter what he tried.

Eventually, he gave up on sleep and left the room. On his way downstairs, he heard voices. He stopped at the doorway and listened in.

"...you doing Dumbledore's Army. I'm only passing on the message." A familiar but garbled voice said. Ron replied, saying, "Well, tell my mum to bugger off. It's my choice."

There was a laugh, then coughing. After the coughing fit, the voice said, "I think it's a brilliant idea. I'm not really sure why Molly doesn't like it. You're going to have to learn it some way or another. It's better if it's with someone like you. You really have James' traits."

"Thanks, Sirius, but I'm really not all that great." There was a small outburst in protest then Sirius left. Naruto hurried back up the stairs and went back to his room. He suddenly felt much more drained, but still didn't manage to fall asleep again. The thought that Sakura was in the same room just made him feel...

He left again and went downstairs, this time with no one else down there. He looked at the smoldering remains of the fire. As he thought back, he realized Harry, Hermione, and Ron were talking to the fire.

'There's no way. My mind is too tired to comprehend anything of importance right now.' Naruto laid down on the couch and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Morning brought Naruto out of his slumber. It was Saturday, and he had never been happier. He stretched out and saw no one else there yet. He looked at his watch and saw that it was seven in the morning.

Grumbling, he stood and left the common room. He would rather go upstairs and get some more sleep, but he refused to get near Sakura.

He didn't understand why he was so mad at her for it, but he couldn't help it. He just hated the fact that he was hopeful enough to think she had gotten over Sasuke. 'I bet every time we kissed, she was imagining him in my place.'

He suddenly felt sick and decided to get some air. Leaving the castle, he made his was to the forbidden forest. He planned on getting some practice in while he could.

Naruto found a sufficient tree and practiced kicks and punches. Before he knew it, the tree was falling over. He somehow made Rasengan and punched it through the tree. He blinked at the falling tree.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto spun around and saw Shikamaru standing there. Naruto shrugged, which made Shikamaru sigh. "Come on, it's time for breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," Naruto said and turned back around. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Look, Naruto, Sakura feels horrible about what she said. It doesn't mean that she still loves Sasuke. You need to forgive her for her mistake."

Naruto turned back around. "Why didn't she say all of this to my face? If she's really that sorry, she should be telling me, not you."

"She knows that you will ignore her if she tries. She's going to talk to you at breakfast. Now, lets go." Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's arm and started pulling him along. Naruto attempted to get away, but realized that he wasn't moving of his own free will. Shikamaru let go of his arm and a shadow was formed.

"That's just plain mean!" Shikamaru smiled. They made there way back to the castle, Naruto really wishing he could run away. He didn't like the feeling of his body moving on its own.

When they arrived in the Great Hall, it was bustling with activity. Shikamaru lead Naruto over to the Gryffindor table and sat down across from Sakura, who was picking at her food.

"Now, you two need to talk." With that, Shikamaru delved into his food, keeping his jutsu on Naruto just in case. Sakura noticed that and almost laughed before she saw Naruto's face.

"Are you really over Sasuke? Please, don't lie to me." Sakura looked away from Naruto's stare. It was penetrating her skull. "I will never be over him. He was my first crush. He was one of my best friends. I can never truly be over him."

Shikamaru felt his clutch on Naruto slipping. 'Dammit, Sakura, hurry up!'

"I am, however, over him in terms of wanting to marry him and have children together. I will always love him, but it will be more like a brotherly love than anything." Shikamaru relaxed when Naruto calmed. Shikamaru let Naruto go from his jutsu.

Naruto smiled. "I love you Sakura, but maybe we need some time apart. We can build up our relationship again. It'll be stronger next time."

Sakura felt her heart crack, but she said, "Of course. As long as we're together again."

They ate in peace. No tension was sizzling between any of them. Shikamaru felt better as well, since he wouldn't feel so left out. He really couldn't wait to get back home and see Temari again.

He shook his head. 'I really do like her, don't I? She's so troublesome.'

After breakfast, they went to the common room and started their homework. Naruto's pile was three times the size of Shikamaru's and Sakura's. "Um, can you guys help me on some of this stuff?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled, "I guess so."

* * *

Harry and Ron were in the same boat as Naruto at that point. They had huge piles of homework and couldn't believe they had so much. Hermione, of course, was already finished and was busy reading about some new defensive spells.

"Hermione, couldn't you help us at least a little? We can look up new spells!" She glanced up at Harry's and Ron's pathetic, begging faces. "No."

They both groaned and looked down at Divination homework. All they had to do with that was to write down their dreams. That was the easy homework, since making dreams up was easy.

They quickly finished that and moved on to the essays in Astronomy, Transfiguration and Potions. Both of them asked Hermione one more time to get another denial.

Four hours later, they finished them. They then gave the essays to Hermione to look over. She almost blew a gasket reading them. "Ronald, why did you think Saturn was made up of pixie dust? Honestly!"

Automatically, she ended up pretty much re-writing their papers. Neither complained. After she was done and had angrily thrown the essays back at them, she realized what she had done.

"You two better get out of her quickly. I may be forced to behead you." They gathered their things and ran upstairs. Laughing, they dropped their bodies onto their beds.

"That was bloody brilliant! We got her to do them!" They laughed for what seemed like eternity before a window breaking made them jump out of bed. Something was in their with them.

They dared to breathe, afraid whatever was in their with them would kill them on the spot. Eventually, Harry started making his way to the broken window. Ron tried to stop him with hand signals, but Harry shook his head.

Slowly, he stepped in front of the window and peered outside. The wind was blowing, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Harry turned around and jumped.

"What is it?" Ron said suddenly. Harry walked forward and bent down. When he came back up, he held a scroll. "It was imbedded in the ground."

Ron walked over and stared at it. It was unlike anything they had ever seen. The parchment was covered in gold and there was a very intricate design on the seal.

"Should we open it?" Harry shrugged. He knew they should probably show it to the shinobi. They would probably be able to figure out if it was trapped.

Curiosity grew and Harry opened it. Ron held his breath as Harry unrolled it. It was rather short.

_'__Tell Shikamaru to go down to the forbidden forest at midnight tonight. Force him to go if you have to. Make sure he goes.'_

Harry and Ron looked at each other. Ron asked, "And why do we have to do this?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

The day flew by rather quickly. Naruto managed to finish his homework by dinner, thankfully. He had plenty of help from Sakura and Shikamaru, so it was easier than it would have been.

Harry and Ron finished up the rest of their homework as well, though they had more pressing matters on their minds. They weren't sure if they should tell Shikamaru or not. He would demand to see the scroll, which would lead to a lot of questions. They would rather just not say anything.

After dinner, Harry and Ron went over to Shikamaru, who just happened to be walking alone. "We need to tell you something. It's kinda... important."

Shikamaru looked at them. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Well, it's kinda..." Shikamaru urged them to go on. "We got something earlier..."

They told him about what they found. Shikamaru thought for a moment. "Looks like I know what I'm doing tonight."

"Wait, you can't be serious? This has to be a trap! Why would you go if you know it's a trap?" Ron exclaimed. Shikamaru only smiled before leaving them. They stared at his back, completely blown away as to why he would actually get himself into trouble.

"He's mad. That's all there is to it. He's one completely mental." Harry nodded in agreement. "He never asked to see the scroll!"

Once again, they had been blown away. They couldn't comprehend why he wouldn't ask to see the scroll. They scurried away as quickly as they could. They also knew what they were doing tonight.

* * *

Naruto had fallen asleep the second he sat on the couch. He was completely exhausted from the homework he had to do all day. Sakura wasn't surprised at all. She was too busy talking to Hermione to realize that Shikamaru had never returned from dinner.

Currently, Shikamaru was in the library. It was closing soon, so he wanted to get his information quickly. He knew exactly what he was looking for.

When he had been scouring the books to see if anything important about the ministry was in there, he found something rather interesting. He was planning on getting it a while ago, but D.A. got in his way. He had completely forgotten about it.

He found it rather fast. Picking the book up and finding a comfortable chair, he sat and started reading. About half way through the book, he found it.

_ "The Department of Mysteries was completed in 1978. One year later, on its anniversary, there was a large explosion that destroyed a large portion of the Ministry of Magic. The experiments conducted that caused the explosion were never released. A rumor was that it was caused by a man."_

Shikamaru grabbed the Daily Prophet he brought with him and opened it to the middle. Down in the corner was a small article. It said, _"A long lost case involving the Department of Mysteries was solved earlier this week. A mysterious man had been spotted at the sight when the incident happened. He turned himself in today. His name is Takeru. He refuses to give his last name at the current time. He will be spending time in Askaban."_

Shikamaru was lost in his thoughts. Why would someone who had gotten away from prison for such a long time turn themselves in now? And why would they not give their last name?

His mind was working on overdrive. 'He obviously wants someone to notice this. From the takeout date on this book, the last one to take it out graduated eight years ago. I was looking at this recently. Does this person want me to know what he's doing?'

"Excuse me, Mr. Nara, the library is closing now. Would you like to take this book out?" Madam Prince was standing in front of Shikamaru, looking slightly annoyed that someone was still there. She already had to kick Miss. Granger out nearly every night.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I'll put it away."

Once he managed to get out of the library, he went all the way to the Owlry. He knew nobody would be there at this time of night. When he got there, three owls stooped down to him. One stuck it's leg out, expecting a letter. When Shikamaru failed to give the owl a letter, it pecked Shikamaru's hand and flew back up. The other two followed.

Shikamaru looked out over the grounds. Light was fading fast, the glow placing itself just over the tree line. As the sun sank, Shikamaru started writing a letter. He rolled it up and put his hands together. The scroll disappeared. Shikamaru looked out the window again and only saw a faint glow far away. He decided it was time to get to the common room.

On his way down the stairs, he ran into Mrs. Norris, who was quickly followed by Mr. Filch. "Aha! Give me your dungbomb form right now! I won't stand for any more of those in this castle!"

"Sorry, already sent it."

Mr. Filch got up into Shikamaru's face. "I better not smell any dungbombs! If I do, I'm going straight for you!" He wobbled off, Mrs. Norris hissing at Shikamaru and obediently following.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and went back to the common room. Most of the Gryiffindors had gone up to bed already, even though it was only just hitting nine at night. Naruto had fallen on the floor and woken up abruptly. Sakura forced him to go to bed, though he protested profusely.

Shikamaru sat down on the couch and got into a comfortable position. Harry and Ron came over and sat next to him. Shikamaru braced himself.

"Why are you doing it?" That was the only question. Shikamaru smirked. "I haven't had fun like this in a while. I was either saving someone or trying to find out where someone was. Now, I just get to not think and do something because I can."

They started to understand. They were always doing what they felt was right. They never cared about the consequences until it was over (minus Hermione).

"Well, I should get to be if I have to get up at midnight." Shikamaru left them and went upstairs. He had completely lied to them, but he didn't care. He was very curious as to who this person was.

* * *

At eleven thirty, Shikamaru woke up. Sakura and Naruto were sound asleep. Shikamaru grabbed his shoes and quickly put them on. He went over to their window and slowly opened it. He crawled out and stuck himself to the wall. After slowly closing the window, he crawled down the wall of the castle.

When he reached the bottom, he ran to the Forbidden Forest and stopped when he was about twenty meters in. Sitting on a tree branch, he waited the half hour.

He knew Harry and Ron were probably waiting in the common room for Shikamaru to go down, but he made it much easier. For him, at least.

"Good, you came. I knew you would. My kin wouldn't give up on something so interesting." Shikamaru's mind went numb for a moment. "Kin?"

"Yes, you're my great, great, great, great grandson, or something like that. I might've messed up on the greats." The man stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Takeru was smirking and looked as young as ever.

Understanding flooded Shikamaru's mind. "Takeru Nara. You're one of the only people in the Nara clan that went against the Hokage. You didn't get the execution you wanted for someone, right? They thought it was too gruesome to strap them down and cut out their heart while they were still alive. Shame, you were pretty talented. I'm sure old age has gotten to you, hasn't it?"

Takeru smirked even larger. "Sorry, I don't know the meaning of old age."

Shikamaru jumped down from the tree he was on and held out his hand. "I'll do what you want."

Takeru's eyebrows rose. "And what makes you think I wanted you to do anything?"

"Why else would you purposely get caught for something you did years ago? And why would you want to meet me here? Why would you want to get my attention? The only explanation would be you want me to help you with something." Takeru sighed. "Looks like you did get brains. I was hoping you didn't get my wife's genes. She was incredibly lazy, sat around all day, and never did anything. She loved watching the clouds for some reason."

"Well, then I got half of her genes." Takeru shook his head. "Fantastic."

"So, what is it you need me to do exactly?" Takeru smirked.

"I just need you to watch and gather intel on Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and your two friends. It shouldn't be too hard, should it?"

"No, it won't be." They shook hands and Takeru smirked. "I'm glad you are doing this. I have other things to do anyway."

"Does this mean you are working for Voldemort?" Takeru laughed. "No, it's more like I'm paying him to do things for me. This is his payment."

"I wouldn't think any relative of mine would ever do something so willingly." Takeru smiled. "Whatever you do, don't get caught."

"I won't." They parted, Takeru blending into the forest and Shikamaru making his way back to the castle. He quickly made his way up the wall and into him room. He laid down on his bed and then started silently laughing. He managed to laugh himself to sleep. The strange thing was, he had no idea why he was laughing so much.

* * *

I managed to finish in less than a month! Yay!

I promise to explain all of my craziness before the story is over. I will explain all of it. Please, don't freak out on me demanding answers right away. I won't give them to you. Hope you enjoyed!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The next D.A. meeting went relatively well. Ginny was still upset that they couldn't have the meetings more often, but she sucked it up and tried harder at that meeting. The other students were also trying harder, which made Harry very proud. He was glad they were pulling together so well.

Ever since the note, Harry and Ron have noticed that Shikamaru was hanging around them more and more often. He would randomly ask them very strange questions as well. They didn't want to tell it to Naruto and Sakura, though. They had enough on their plates to worry about anyway.

"Sakura, could you hand me that book? There was something in it I wanted to look at." Sakura gave Naruto a ridiculous look. She couldn't believe he would ever say something like that. She handed him the book and grew even more surprised when he opened it and began reading. Naruto looked up to see her look. "What?"

"Nothing. I just never thought you'd do something like that. I've never seen you actually read a book before. Unless you were forced to of course." Naruto just chuckled and started reading again. "Just because I was such an idiot when I was younger doesn't mean I didn't seek knowledge just like you."

She smiled and started reading a book on the only martial arts book in the whole library. Sakura was slightly amused at the lack of knowledge on the subject. The whole book was written on assumptions. At the end of nearly every single paragraph, it said something along the lines of "This is what I believe is true"

After a while, she gave up on reading it. It was just so stupid. She walked over to Naruto and looked at what he was reading. He was reading about different forms of controlling others. "Why are you reading something like that?"

"Huh?" He quickly hid the book. "Why are you reading about controlling others?"

"No reason. Just reading. I want to be very informed about this world in case we ever have to send anyone else here." Sakura didn't buy it for a minute. "Sure, let's go with that."

"What? I'm telling the truth!" Sakura shook her head and sat down again. "Look, you wouldn't be looking something like that up just because you could. There has to be a motive behind it."

Naruto suddenly grew very defensive. "Not everything has to have a motive behind it. Not every single person needs to have reason behind what they do."

"Um, yes they do. I read the only book on martial arts in the library to find out if they knew anything about us. We became shinobi to protect the village we love. Murderers kill because they hate that particular person. Everything has a motive behind it."

"Then I guess we're even worse than murderers. We will kill because someone told us to. We don't know the person half the time." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Look, that's completely different. We kill only on the occasions that truly require that." Naruto stood up abruptly. "No we don't. We are just as much a murderer as a person who kills people they hate. We have no motive to kill anyone except the fear of getting kicked out of the village."

"Naruto, you are being completely ridiculous! I don't understand how you could ever say something like that!" Naruto shook his head. "I don't understand how you can't see that. You really are completely blind."

Sakura stood up. "_I'm_ blind? You've been blind to way more things than anyone I know!"

"You know what? How did I ever date a bitch like you?" Naruto walked out of the Room of Requirement, slamming the door as hard as he could. Everyone left in there was surprised the door didn't come off it's hinges.

Sakura felt the tears come. She didn't even try to stop them. They had been doing so well. What happened? Shikamaru came over. "He's just had a bad day. He'll come around."

"No, you don't understand. I really screwed up this time." She left the Room of Requirement too, deciding it was best to get to bed before Naruto got there.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Shikamaru were the only people left in the room. Hermione was putting away the last of the books when the raised voices stopped her. She felt bad, but at the same time, she was glad. They weren't snogging every minute anymore, which was definitely a plus.

Shikamaru looked at the door where Sakura just left and laughed. The trio looked at him strangely. He just looked at them and smiled. "What? They had it coming."

He left, leaving the trio very confused. Hermione brushed it off and finished putting the books away. Harry and Ron, however, gave each other a look. They knew something was up and that just proved it.

* * *

Shikamaru walked through the halls, strutting his way to the common room. Passerby's looked at him weird, but they didn't know him well, so they said nothing. When he entered the common room, he lounged out on the couch. People that were on the couch left, swearing under their breath.

"What are you doing back so quickly?" Shikamaru looked up and saw Naruto looking at him. He still looked upset, but he tried to cover it up as best as possible.

"There wasn't anything to do. And your little fight was the most amusing thing all day." Naruto's eyebrows lowered slightly. "Are you feeling alright, Shikamaru?"

"Never been better!" He let a smile grace his face. Naruto blinked a few times before going up to bed. He knew Sakura was already there, but he was going to completely ignore her.

Shikamaru looked over at the fire and smiled again. Something in his head was nagging at him, but he ignored it. He just knew he was very happy and didn't want anything ruining the moment.

_'Well, looks like I can speak to you after all. I can't do it very long, though. Shame.'_ Shikamaru jumped up off the couch, getting himself more strange looks. _'I'm talking to you in your head, idiot. Looks like you are pretty dumb. Just think what you need to say, and I'll hear it.'_

'Um, this is really weird. Who are you?' The voice groaned. _'You don't recognize my voice? It's Takeru! Dumbass.' _

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. 'No, I think you are the dumbass. I was messing with you. You should've known that I knew it was you. You're voice sorta sticks out.'

Takeru laughed. _'Well, I guess I am the dumbass. Meet me tonight. Same time, same place.'_

'I can do that.' Shikamaru smirked and looked at his watch. It was just going past the eight o'clock mark. 'I've got plenty of time to kill.'

The nagging feeling he had came back, only it was stronger this time. He fought harder to ignore it, and succeeded. 'I've really got to get it together.'

* * *

Harry and Ron were the only ones awake in their dormitory. They were looking out two different windows. They did not trust Shikamaru anymore.

There was a figure that zoomed across the lawn. Harry looked to Ron and nodded. It was time to try the new magic they had practiced. Each of them took out their wands and they slowly opened the window in front of them. They climbed onto the window shelves and then flicked their wands sharply.

Stairs made out of air appeared below them. Gingerly, they took a step onto the stairs, praying they wouldn't fall. They quickly made their way down the stairs and zoomed in Shikamaru's direction. Looking behind them, they saw that the stairs stayed where they were.

Once they made it to the edge of the forest, they slowly inched forward, hoping the darkness would cover them. They soon heard distinct voices.

"...they finally found it." Shikamaru's voice was easily recognized. There was a pause. Then, "Really? Well, he should be happy with that information. Anything to get him closer to his goal. Good work. Now, I need information on the two other shinobi."

That voice was not familiar in any way to either of them. They listened intently to the next words. "Sakura is just what you'd expect. She's a medical ninja who has the strength of Tsunade. She 'loves' Naruto, but keeps being extremely rude to him. I really don't know what he sees in her..."

"Okay, I didn't really need the last part. And what do you have on Naruto?" There was another slight pause. "Well, he greatly resembles the fourth Hokage, but I doubt they're actually related. Naruto's an orphan, so it's highly doubtful. Plus, he's not exactly on the bright side all the time."

"Well, I can tell you he's the fourth's son." There was another pause, this time it was longer. The information was sinking into Shikamaru. "It makes sense now. He was born on the day the fourth died. The same day... Naruto has the Kyuubi in him, doesn't he?"

"Yes he does." Harry and Ron were beyond confused at this point. What was the Kyuubi? How can it be inside Naruto?

"Now that you know that, you can see why he is interested in Naruto, right?" "Definitely."

Yet another pause ensued. "Well, I should let you get back to the castle. Keep up the good work. The 'Dark Lord', as he calls himself, will be very pleased. In my opinion, he's pretty stupid. He shouldn't keep going after the same boy over and over when it never works. Harry Potter's got him beat."

Harry nearly jumped in there, but Ron stopped him. They decided it would be best to get back to the castle first. They turned around and ran as fast as they could up the stairs. They both barely made it in when their stairs dissipated.

Panting, they went to their beds. Whispering, Ron said, "Well, that's not good."

Harry took off his glasses and nearly slammed them onto the nightstand. "You think?"

* * *

The next day, Harry woke up with a headache. He automatically knew it wasn't going to be a good day. Groggily, he stood and put on his glasses. Ron was still fast asleep on his bed, so Harry went downstairs and lounged on the couch.

His mind floated to the memory of what happened the night before. His hands and teeth clenched together. He just couldn't believe...nobody would willingly do that. Not one of his friends. It just couldn't happen.

"You're up early too." Harry looked behind the couch and saw Sakura. Her eyes were still puffy from the night before, so she appeared even more tired. Fresh tears glistened on her face. She went and sat down on a chair.

They sat until the sun rose even higher into the sky. Then, Sakura stood and said, "I'm going to go get some breakfast. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, I think I'll stay here for a while longer. Sakura nodded and went back upstairs, presumably to get changed out of her pajamas. A few minutes later, she came backstairs, more hurried than before, and went out the portrait hole.

Harry got more comfortable and stared at the remains of the fire. Only a few spots showed the indication of any fire at all, but Harry more longed for a face to burst forth. Hopefully, that face would be of Sirius. That would make everything slightly easier to bear.

"Hey, Harry." Harry jumped up and stared intently at the fire. Nothing at all had changed in the fire. "Behind you, idiot."

Harry sheepishly turned around and saw Naruto. He didn't have the same sadness in his eyes that Sakura did. Instead, he had worry in his eyes.

"Have you noticed anything...off about Shikamaru lately?" Naruto asked.

Harry suddenly went into deep thought. He made it appear as though he was thinking back, to see if he noticed anything. In actuality, he was debating on whether to tell him or not. He wanted someone to know besides him and Ron. Naruto and Sakura deserved to know. They are his friends, they would know what to do.

On the other hand, if they did get involved, they would most likely be killed. Harry couldn't have anymore deaths on his hands. Cedric...his was hard enough to deal with.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" Naruto got even more serious. "Harry, are you completely sure you haven't noticed anything strange? Anything at all?"

"I really haven't." Naruto let out a slow breath. "Do you want to go get breakfast with me?"

"Sure, I just gotta go change, then I'll be down. I'll drag Ron with me too." With that, Harry ran upstairs. Ron was halfway through buttoning his robes when Harry came in.

"Why'd you get up so early?" "Later." Harry quickly changed and they went downstairs. Together, Harry, Ron, and Naruto all went downstairs to breakfast. They all made small talk on the way down. Just before entering the Great Hall, Naruto stopped us. He looked straight at Ron and asked him the same question he asked me earlier.

Ron thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Why, do you think something's wrong with him?"

Naruto shook his head and went in the Great Hall. Just in time, too, because Ron's ears turned a nasty shade of red. "Damn, that was way too close."

"Yeah, you think?" They went into the Great Hall and took a seat in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Looking around, they saw Naruto all the way down at the end near the teachers. Sakura was at the opposite end, near the doors. Sakura looked like she had just broken down again and ran out of the Great Hall.

"I swear, she is getting very annoying. Every time I turn around, she's crying again. I'm nearly positive she's doing it to get another boys attention just to get Naruto jealous. It's sickening." Hermione made her presence rather obvious as she sat, putting a thick book on the table in front of her.

"It gets so annoying when girls are in the bathroom, one of them was dumped, so they talk about how their life is over. They cry a lot, then decide to date their ex-boyfriend's best friend to get him jealous. Most of the time, it just backfires. I really don't care anymore. It's so annoying." Ron gave her a look.

"Half of the reason she's acting like that is because of Naruto. He said some pretty rude things to her." Hermione snorted. "And Sakura didn't say anything bad to Naruto? You're siding with the girl who looks like she needs to be saved. Typical boy fashion. I should not be surprised."

"The only reason you're saying any of this is because you can't land yourself a boyfriend. You don't know what any of it feels like." Hermione glared at Ron before picking up the book and hitting him with it. "Hey!"

"Ronald Weasley, you are way to much of a typical boy. You need to open up your eyes a bit. It might help. A lot." Hermione grabbed a piece of toast and walked away. Harry gave Ron a look.

"What? I was just stating the simple facts." Harry laughed and dug into his breakfast of eggs and toast with marmalade.

* * *

Naruto was pacing. He didn't want to go into the dormitory. It may have been Sunday, but he didn't want to face Shikamaru. He heard him leave the night before. Then, he heard him whisper when he came back. "Hope Harry and Ron follow me again. That was very fun. Now they know."

Naruto could tell Harry and Ron were lying, but he let it go. He'd find it out himself. Then again, he had something very important to tell Shikamaru. For some reason, during the middle of the day, he seems to mellow out, but when it gets closer to the night, he acts strangely. Now was the perfect time.

He pushed open the door. "Hey, Shikamaru, I was wondering if you could take a look at something. You're smart brain would be able to figure it out."

Shikamaru nodded, looking slightly bored. Naruto handed him his wand. "The inscription. There are more letters now. They don't go in order, though. They skip around. It's weird."

Shikamaru took the wand and studied it. Naruto could tell he was acting normal at this point. He wasn't acting so weird. "Well, there are the letters 'DETYTNSOKITEM'. They go in that order. Hm..."

Naruto sat on his bed while Shikamaru worked. After around twenty minutes, Shikamaru said, "The only thing I can discern from this is the last word might be THEM. I'm not totally sure, but I think it is."

"Okay, it was worth a shot. Well, thanks. I'll leave you to...whatever you're doing. What are you doing?" Naruto looked at Shikamaru's bed and saw that he had a few books with him.

"I'm reading up on the Ministry. I want to know everything about them. It might prove useful one day." Naruto nodded slowly, not really getting why it might be useful. "Well, I'll leave you to it."

Naruto left quickly. He felt something strange in him. It almost felt like something he had felt a few months before...

"Hey, Naruto, do you want to come play quidditch with us?" Naruto looked at Harry and Ron who were just about to leave. "Sure, but what's quidditch?"

They explained it all to him on the way to the quidditch pitch. They were surprised he hadn't gone to any of the matches. Granted, half of them had been cancelled because of Umbridge, but still.

They got him and Ron a school broom, since Harry had his firebolt. Ron showed him that he had to say, "Up!" while holding his hand over the broom. It went strait into Ron's hand when he did that.

Naruto tried. It wobbled slightly. He tried again and it floated halfway before floating back to the ground. Thus, he started to cheat. He centered his chakra into his hand and when he said up, he shot the chakra down and grabbed onto the broom, pulling it up quickly. Harry and Ron didn't even notice.

"Well, that worked. Better than my first time. I got nailed in the face. Naruto burst out laughing, Harry along with him. Harry had forgotten about that.

After their good laugh, Harry and Ron showed Naruto how to mount and kick off slowly. Naruto did exactly what he was told and managed to do pretty well. At least until he got impatient and wanted to go faster.

Once they finally managed to slow Naruto down, his hair was very windswept. He was grinning from ear to ear. They told Naruto that they were going to practice for a while, so Naruto could either go back to the castle or stay and watch. He decided to go to the castle. He had to talk to someone.

* * *

Night had fallen yet again. Takeru was waiting in the normal spot. He had been told by Shikamaru that he had to come. Apparently, Shikamaru had some very important news.

Takeru was incredibly pleased by the way Voldemort was handling his task. It wasn't everyday you got the Dark Lord to make you something. Especially something powerful.

Takeru shifted his position on the tree branch. Though he had been in the wizarding world for quite some time, he kept up on his shinobi skills. He wasn't going to let himself grow rusty. He was just very happy he found this world. And it was all on accident, which made it even better.

Voldemort was searching everywhere for someone to try his new ideas on. He was traveling when he found a shimmering rock. He walked over to it and touched it. He was instantly pulled inside. On the other side, there was a room with a man in it. The man was harking down a bowl of soup.

The man looked starved and mangled. His hair was unkempt and his ribs were sticking out. After the man finished his meal, he looked to Voldemort. That was the first time Takeru and Voldemort met.

Takeru was being held accountable for the death of three dead Nara clan shinobi. He was to be locked up in the Nara shrine for two months. He was to be fed once a week and given water twice a week. In this time, it was said that the spirits of the ones killed would come and forgive the killer.

Takeru got out of being there for another week. He hated Konoha with a passion. He wanted to watch it burn. Ever since the stupid laws were put in place, Takeru's life was different.

Shikamaru came into Takeru's sight. He stopped his flashback and focused on the task at hand. "You said it was urgent?"

"Yes. I had completely forgotten about it. Naruto's wand. There's an inscription on the tip." Takeru's eyes rose. "Really? I didn't know wands changed."

Shikamaru shrugged. "All the books I looked in said nothing about the wand changing. I almost think it changes with your chakra. If that changes, you're wand will also change with it. Naruto did lash out when Sasuke died. The Kyuubi's power might've resonated with his wand and caused it to slowly change. He never really uses it, so he didn't see the change." Takeru nodded. "Yes, that sounds like a valid idea."

"Is there anything else? I'd rather stay in the dark for a couple of weeks before coming back. It might get too suspicious." Shikamaru nodded. "I found out that Ginny Weasley could be considered a threat. She seems to be violent when she wants to be. We should keep an eye on her."

"I'll tell Voldemort. He should be happy with all the work you've been doing. I'm sure he's bound to be nearly finished with my request." Shikamaru said nothing. Takeru smiled. "Well, you should head back now. Good job and keep up the good work."

Shikamaru nodded and went back. Takeru slid into the shadows, smirking at the progress. It wouldn't be long now. Not long before the day will finally come.

* * *

Shikamaru found himself dreaming that night. He was dreaming of a large city, filled to the brim with civilians. They were smiling, knowing they were safe. Ninja would jump around all the time. Some of them walked through the streets as if it were completely normal. He suddenly saw a man with a cigarette in his mouth, smiling slightly. Next to him was a blonde girl wearing purple. Then, there was a chubby boy with swirls on each cheek.

They all looked so happy. Until Shikamaru sliced all their necks open. He woke up laughing. He didn't know what else to do but laugh. It was just so funny how their blood fell from their necks. And how they screamed, not understanding why he was killing them.

* * *

I really don't know what the last part is all about. It was random. And I'm writing another story with a very dark background. I was writing that before this, so that's most likely what it was. So, we're getting near the final stretch. It seemed like this has been a very long story. It's been two years. And almost 200 reviews. Never expected that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Weeks went by. It was finally April, and the birds were as happy as could be. They actually woke Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru up. "Stupid birds, shut up!"

"Naruto, they can't hear you or understand you, sorry." Sakura said. She had given up on trying to mend their relationship. She would let it mend itself. Hopefully, it would mend itself.

"Doesn't mean I can't try." He smiled and looked to Shikamaru. He was looking at the window where the birds were perched. They were singing their song as loud as they could. Naruto looked at Shikamaru's face. Something wasn't right...

"Come on, guys, we might as well get down to breakfast. We've got classes today." Sakura said, as she went into the bathroom to change. It snapped Shikamaru out of his daze and set him into motion. Naruto followed Shikamaru's lead. After a while, Shikamaru noticed Naruto staring at him.

"What?" Naruto jumped, not realizing he was being so obvious. "Nothing."

They continued getting dressed. Sakura came out after around fifteen minutes, looking slightly prettier than normal. Now that she was single, she wasn't going to let her looks go to waste.

"You look nice, Sakura." She stiffened, but proceeded to turn and smile. "Why, thank you Naruto."

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew she didn't want to feel so horrible all the time, so she decided to give up on him. Or so she showed. He knew she was hoping they'd get back together, even if she says it's not true.

Naruto still felt horrible. He didn't know what had come over him. It was like a dark force just took him over. The funny thing was he got out of it not much later. He had felt strange ever since that day. It almost felt like the same dark force he felt one time before. What was that one time?

"Come on, let's get down to breakfast." Naruto broke out of his thoughts and nodded. He grabbed his bag and wand and followed them downstairs.

At breakfast, most of the fifth years were studying together. They were taking a mock O.W.L exam in Potions that day. They had to make a potion Snape had them make that year. Knowing Snape, it was bound to be the hardest one they made, which just happened to be the Draught of Peace.

They mostly just ate toast while studying. It didn't require a fork, so it was an easy food to eat while studying. Naruto was somehow managing to stay focused during the studying, which was a miracle within itself.

"Hey, guys." Naruto and Shikamaru looked up at Ron. He looked ravenous. They moved aside to give him all the room he could muster to eat. As soon as he sat, he started in on the food.

Harry came in a little while later with Hermione giving him all the tips under the sun so he wouldn't screw up. He only seemed to be half listening. "And don't forget to add the hellebore this time, okay?"

"Yes, Hermione, I know!" He dropped onto the bench and started eating. He almost looked like Ron, he was eating so fast. "Oh, and Harry, don't forget-"

"Hermione, drop it! I want to eat, not study!" Hermione looked taken aback, but she merely pursed her lips and said, "Fine. I won't help you when you finally realize you need help with your studies."

She got up, grabbed a piece of toast, and left. Harry sighed and continued eating. Naruto closed his book, showing signs of his brain overloading with information. "FOOD!"

Faster than Harry or Ron could ever imagine, Naruto ate and refiled his plate three times. On the fourth plate, Shikamaru grabbed his collar and dragged him away. "Wait! My food is calling for me!"

Harry and Ron burst out laughing. It seemed as though everything was right with the world. "Ouch!"

Harry gripped his forehead and rubbed it. His scar was burning quite painfully. Ron looked at Harry in concern. "You don't think..."

A quick flash appeared in Harry's mind. Voldemort was there along with a man in a black cloak with red clouds all over it. What was truly disturbing was how the man in the cloak had a light half and dark half on his face.

"Who was that?" Harry willed the picture to come again, but it refused. The pain was subsiding, but not before Harry felt uncontrollable happiness fill his mind. He started to laugh before he realized their part of the table was silent. Actually, a vast majority of the Great Hall was silent.

Harry stood and left, feeling the burn of stares behind him. Ron followed. "What did you see?"

"All I saw was a flash. He's happy. Very happy. He's pleased with himself at what he achieved. There was a man there wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. But..." Harry stopped, Ron nearly running into him. Harry looked Ron square in the eyes. "His face. One half of his face was white while the other half was black. It was... I was truly scared of him."

"He gave off bad vibes. He seemed truly evil." Ron was staring at him, not really understanding. "How'd you manage to get all of that from simple flash of what was happening?"

"... I don't know."

Naruto heard everything they said. He knew they were talking about Zetsu. Who else in the Akatsuki was black and white?

When Shikamaru pulled Naruto out of the Great Hall, Naruto got rid of him by saying he forgot his potions book, which he did forget. He went back to get it , but was stopped when he saw Ron and Harry. Now, he needed to tell Sakura, and quickly.

* * *

Sakura was with Hermione. They were doing last minute studying in the library. It was much easier than in the Great Hall. Plus, this way, there wouldn't be a blonde haired boy in the vicinity.

Unfortunately, the blonde haired boy did come into the vicinity. Sakura sighed. "What is it, Naruto?"

"We need to talk." Sakura almost laughed, thinking it was about them, when she saw the seriousness on his face. She immediately stood and followed him. They went to the hall outside the library before Naruto told her what he heard.

"No. This is not right. It can't be happening. It just can't. They must've followed us here. There's no other explanation. They came for you." Naruto shook his head. "Actually, I think that part was just frosting to the cake. Voldemort most likely wanted help and knew the Akatsuki could give him that help. I think he did that a while ago. Then, we came, which makes things better for Akatsuki, worse for Voldemort. That's probably when he hired Michio."

Sakura was impressed. "Wow, you pieced that together rather well." Naruto smiled. "I have my moments."

Sakura almost melted at his touch as he rubbed his finger down her jaw line. Instead, she slapped him. "Sorry, Naruto, you had your chance."

She walked away, leaving Naruto feeling even more stupid. "Why did I do that? Can someone please explain my stupidity to me? Why would I do something like that after what I did?"

"I would say something, but I'd rather not get a headache from you." Naruto scoffed. Shikamaru sighed. "Come on, it's time for Potions. You got your book, right?"

Naruto nodded, holding up their Potions book. Thank Kami for clones.

* * *

The mock Potions O.W.L exam went fairly smoothly. Nobody set anything on fire or destroyed their cauldrons. Most of them were very close, if not exact, with the potion. It was the Draught of Peace just as they had feared. Thankfully, their intense studying had saved them the embarrassment of getting a T. At least, most of them.

"Yes! I got an E for Exceeds Expectations!" Hermione and Sakura were both incredibly pleased with themselves. Naruto and Shikamaru both got an A for Acceptable, which was not what Naruto was expecting at all.

"Wow, I passed!" Naruto was jumping up and down, more excited than he had been in a long time. Ron was slightly disappointed in his P for Poor, but he didn't really expect any better. Harry, however, said nothing through this whole ordeal. He knew it was going to happen, but he didn't want to say anything.

"Hey, Harry, what did you get?" Ron asked. Harry let out a laugh. "Same as you. Snape really hates us, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Ron went back to the others, leaving Harry alone. He didn't want this to get him down, but for some reason, it was. He couldn't understand why it would ever make him feel worse. Until he remembered Hermione trying to help him. 'I should've let her help me more.'

Shikamaru went over to Harry and sat next to him. Harry instantly tensed up, not wanting to be anywhere near Shikamaru. "I can tell you're lying about your grade. You got a T, didn't you?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably, slowly edging his way away from Shikamaru. Shikamaru noticed this. "What, are you scared of me or something?"

Harry froze again. Thankfully, Naruto saw the interaction between those two and saw the look on Shikamaru's face. He instantly went over to Harry and put on a huge smile. "Come on, Harry, let's go get lunch!"

Without giving him any choice in the matter, Naruto pulled Harry away from Shikamaru and out the portrait hole. Harry was grateful, but confused. Lunch didn't start for another forty minutes.

Naruto slowed down and let go of Harry's arm. He turned and looked Harry straight in the eyes. "I finally figured it out."

Harry got even more confused. "Um, what?"

"Shikamaru. He's under some sort of spell. I feel the same thing from him I felt a couple of weeks ago when I was practically screaming at Sakura. Certain...things...stopped me from getting under the same spell." Understanding blossomed in his eyes. "That makes perfect sense! That must be why he joined Takeru and Voldemort!"

Harry's eyes widened. He didn't mean to tell Naruto anything about Shikamaru. He didn't want to worry him. Now, it seems as though it was too late. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Harry bit his lip. "Well, we didn't want...we didn't need you to freak out or anything. We were dealing with it."

"We? You mean Ron and you? How exactly were you 'dealing with it'?" Harry really wished none of this was happening the way it was. He just shook his head. That was not good enough for Naruto. He turned around and started back tot he common room. Harry followed him.

"What are you going to do?" Naruto didn't answer. Harry had to run to keep up with him after a while. "Naruto, slow down!"

They were in front of the portrait, Naruto yelling the password. Just as she was opening, there was a very loud boom from behind the portrait, which also rocked the ground. Both Naruto's and Harry's eyes widened. They pushed their way into the common room.

It lay in ruins. One of the wall had been blasted off, leading to a very large drop to the ground. Shikamaru was laughing hysterically, everyone else was up against the opposite wall in complete horror. Sakura was on the ground right next to the drop off. Naruto instantly ran over to her.

Shikamaru stopped laughing and turned to him. He smiled sickly. "Oh, we can't have this, now can we?" His voice was very dark. It felt as though something had completely taken him over.

Shikamaru raised his wand and flicked it. The ground Naruto and Sakura were on collapsed beneath them. Naruto grabbed onto Sakura and held her tight. They were falling.

Naruto pulled his wand out and aimed it for the place they just fell down. He managed to somehow make a rope come out, wrapping it around a torch in the common room. They flew back towards the common room. Naruto wasn't going to let Sakura get hurt no matter what.

When they were back on the ground, Naruto had no time to rest. His eyes widened when Shikamaru blasted the floor beneath the students. Screams were heard from all the falling students. Naruto placed Sakura on the ground and ran over to the ledge. He was able to let out a large breath. They all landed on a large pillow, none of them being hurt.

Naruto looked to the roof to see Dumbledore. He had never been so happy to see him. Yet again, he had no time to rest, however. A rope appeared around Naruto's neck, pulling tight. Shikamaru was smirking.

"Well, look who's stronger! I could kill you instantly if I wanted to. However..." Shikamaru broke the rope off his wand and pointed his wand to Sakura. Naruto struggled against the rope even more. "I'd rather see the look on your face as I kill the one you love."

Naruto couldn't do anything. Whenever he tried to pull the rope from around his neck, it dug tighter. He was hardly able to draw in any air at all. He felt tears spring to his eyes.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them gave out, leaving all three of them free falling. Shikamaru let go of the rope in fright, which gave Naruto enough time to get it from around his neck. He tried to get to Sakura, but Shikamaru had gotten to her first. Naruto grabbed onto Shikamaru's arms and tried to pull him from Sakura. Shikamaru kicked him in the stomach, pushing Naruto from him. The ground grew even closer.

Suddenly, they hit a large pillow, much like the other one. Naruto was incredibly surprised to see it, but heard screams appear out of nowhere. He sat up and saw a mass of cloaked figures running towards the students. He jumped up and started towards them, but heard a whimper behind him.

He whipped around and ran towards Shikamaru, who had a very much awake Sakura. He had her arms behind her back and a wand pointed at her head. Naruto skidded to a stop, the pillow that was beneath them now gone. He glared daggers at Shikamaru. "LET HER GO!"

"Now, why would I do something as silly as that?" Sakura looked at Naruto in complete fear. She didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't do anything except hope Naruto could save her.

A man came from behind Shikamaru. This was the first Naruto had seen Takeru. Takeru was smirking. "Good job, Shikamaru. Our clan is very happy at your actions."

Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. Shikamaru was somehow related to this Takeru person? Naruto knew Takeru must be the reason Shikamaru was under a spell of some sort.

"Now that you've got her right where you want her...kill her." Naruto tried to launch himself at Shikamaru, but his knees were kicked in the back and his arms were held behind him. Looking behind him, he saw white Zetsu. White Zetsu was very pleased with his work.

"You got here just in time, Zetsu. Make sure he watches as his girlfriend is killed in front him." Takeru turned to Shikamaru. "Do it. Now."

Sakura and Naruto locked eyes. Both of them were more terrified than they had ever been before. Sakura was crying, feeling the tears fall down her cheeks. Naruto couldn't bear to see her like that. He mouthed three words. 'I love you.'

Sakrua started to cry harder. 'I love you too.' She mouthed back.

Shikamaru was hesitating. In his mind, the only thing that made any logical sense was the voice of Takeru saying, "Kill her now. The spell's Avada Kedavra. Do it."

He took a deep breath in and forced the voice out of his mind. He blinked a few times and realized what was happening. He looked down to Sakura and saw his wand pointed at her. His hand started to shake.

"What is it? Kill her!" Shikamaru backed away. Naruto looked at Shikamaru and smiled. He broke out of the spell. The smile vanished when a green light encased him and he fell to the ground. Takeru had his wand pointed at Shikamaru, a smile growing on his face. Quickly, he aimed it at Sakura. "Avada Kedavra!"

A green light also encased her. Her eyes went wide. Then, she crumpled to the ground. Takeru started laughing. The laughter only grew larger.

Naruto's eyes were wide in disbelief. He stopped moving completely. He stopped breathing. This wasn't happening. They couldn't be...they weren't...it wasn't true.

Naruto lost it completely. Zetsu was ripped to shreds by the chakra that burst from Naruto. Takeru's laughter died away. He had forgotten about Naruto's tenant. He backed up, but was grabbed around the throat. The last thing he saw was the deep red of the kyuubi's eyes.

The kyuubi's roar was heard by everyone, death eaters and Hogwarts students alike. Voldemort slowly smirked. Everything was going exactly as planned.

* * *

Wow. That was a short chapter, but wow. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Only a few chapters left.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Harry Potter was scared. He had never imagined Shikamaru could be so terrifying. He felt himself shaking. Naruto flew past him and went to Sakura, who was passed out next to the edge of what was left of the common room. Harry blinked a few times before going over to Ron and Hermione. Ron was holding Hermione tightly, the same terrified looks on both of their faces.

"Oh, we can't have this, now can we?" Harry looked up to see Shikamaru break the ground beneath Naruto and Sakura. Screams were heard from a few of the Gryffindor girls. Harry felt his eyes widen. He never thought Shikamaru would be capable of killing his friends, whether he was being controlled or not.

Harry nearly ran forward and tackled Shikamaru, but a rope appeared out of no where and latched onto one of the torches. Harry was relieved to see Naruto and Sakura come flying back up, but that feeling was gone when he felt the ground beneath him give out.

"Harry!" Hermione reached out and grabbed onto his arm, holding painfully tight. Harry looked to the ground, but looked away almost immediately. So this was how it was going to end...

There was an incoherent yell and they fell on something very soft. Harry opened his eyes and looked around. They had landed on what looked like a large pillow. It was very thick and he was happy to know none of the Gryffindors had been injured.

Harry looked up to the roof of the building and saw Dumbledore. He pointed his wand again and mouthed something. Harry looked over to see three falling figures fall onto a pillow just like the one they were currently on.

"Harry! Are you alright!" Harry looked behind him and nodded to Hermione. She let out a nervous breath before her eyes grew wide. "Harry, there are Death Eaters running towards us!"

More screams and shouts came from the other students. Harry stood and started running towards the Death Eaters. He ignored the yells of his classmates. He got what he was hoping for. Voldemort had come to Hogwarts.

Harry quickly stunned two Death Eaters and was battling a third. This one was using very foreign spells and all Harry could do was dodge them to the best of his ability. He steadily got closer and closer to the Death Eater and before he knew it, he was close enough to punch him.

The Death Eater went flying after the barrage of punches and kicks from Harry. Harry smirked at the unconscious Death Eater. The Shinobi had taught them well.

Suddenly, Harry felt himself fall to the ground. His scar was throbbing unlike anything it had done before. Then darkness took over...

"Do you truly think he will come to save you? Why would he put himself in so much danger for someone like you?" Harry was staring at a man with long, black hair. They were trembling with fear.

"He will come! He is just like his father! He would save anyone!" The man whipped his head up, his blood smeared face flickering in the firelight. Sirius spat at Harry.

Harry walked closer to him."Oh really? Well, we'll just see about that. Crucio!"

Sirius screamed, falling forward. Someone else was screaming as well.

Harry's eyes slammed open. He stopped screaming, but felt his body trembling horribly. He recognized that place. It was somewhere in the castle. His eyes widened.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Hermione asked frantically. Ron was right behind her, his face mirroring hers. Harry sat up and rubbed his scar. After a moment more of doing this, he jumped up. "Sirius!"

Harry took off running. Hermione and Ron struggled to keep up with him. "Harry, wait! Sirius what? What's happened to Sirius?"

"Voldemort has him! I saw it! They're in the castle! He's being tortured!" Harry yelled behind him. Hermione yelled back, "Harry, wait a minute!"

Harry reluctantly stopped. They were at the entrance of the castle, no one was in sight. Hermione and Ron caught up to him, breathing heavily. Hermione caught her breath for a minute, ignoring the annoyed look on Harry's face.

"Harry, I think this might be a trap to lure you straight to V-Voldemort." Harry refrained from rolling his eyes and said, "Hermione, Voldemort is torturing Sirius! I saw it! I saw the same thing happen to Ron's dad, and look at what happened because no one was moving fast enough? We can't have this conversation, we need to move!"

Harry took off, not caring if they followed or not. The only thing on his mind was getting to Sirius and saving him. He turned around a corner and came face to face with a very nasty looking man. His clothes were tattered and there were large scars on his face. Harry took a few steps back when he realized who it was.

The man sniffed a bit before smirking. "You smell like dinner."

Fenrir Greyback, a very deadly werewolf, was about to rip Harry to shreds. Thankfully, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), a roar pierced the air. Agony and anger filled the roar. Harry had to cover his ears, it was so strong. Greyback flinched back into a corner. He was reacting to the roar, not knowing what animal it was.

It seemed to go on for an eternity, but when it finally stopped, Greyback ran away as quickly as he could. Harry took a few deep breaths, willing his body to stop trembling. He felt like he knew what made that noise, but he pushed it out of his mind. Quickly, he continued towards his destination.

He continued down to the dungeons, pushing his way away from the masses of students. Most of them were Slytherin, but they didn't even notice Harry. They were too busy running away from their common room. By the time Harry finally managed to make his way to the entrance of the Slytherin common room, he was happy to see the door open.

He ran inside before the doorway could close. Harry ran towards where he remembered the fireplace was. He looked in front of the fireplace.

For a moment, he saw Sirius curled up in a ball, Voldemort standing over him smiling sickly. When he blinked, he realized Sirius and Voldemort were no where to be seen.

"No. They were here. They were right here! Damnit!" Harry punched the fireplace, sending sharp pain from his hand throughout his body.

"My, you have quite a bit of anger, don't you?" Harry whirled around to see Lucius Malfoy, dressed in his Death Eater attire. He was smirking at Harry. "Where's Voldemort?"

"How dare you saw the Dark Lord's name!" A woman wearing heavy, black make-up and whose hair was absolutely insane, stepped out from behind Lucius, pointing her wand at Harry. Harry recognized her from wanted posters. Also, he recognized her as the woman who tortured Neville's parents.

Bellatrix Lestrange was glaring at Harry. She couldn't believe he would say the Dark Lord's name. It drove her to the edge of sanity, which didn't take much.

"Calm yourself, Bellatrix. The Dark Lord will be the one to kill him. Please, put your wand down," Lucius said, earning a glare from Bellatrix. She reluctantly put her wand down to her side.

"Now then, shall we have a civilized talk?" Harry gritted his teeth together. He didn't care what any of them had to say. He needed to find Sirius before it was too late!

"Where's Sirius?"

Lucius started laughing manically. "You really should learn to discern dreams and reality, Potter. It could get you killed one day," Lucius said, continuing his laughter.

Harry felt his teeth grit together even more, causing some pain in his jaw. He wanted to run at them and ki-

'What are you talking about? You don't want to kill anyone! That's Voldemort's job! Get it together, Harry!'

But it would be so much easier just to kill them and be done with it...

'NO! You are not a murderer!'

Harry blinked a few times. He let out a deep breath, calming himself. He would control his anger.

"Would you look at this? It appears Harry is calming himself down. This is definitely new."

The voice startled Harry and also sent shivers up his spine. He knew exactly whose voice it was. Voldemort was walking up to the group from the shadows in front of Harry. He gulped.

"Lucius, good work. You too, Bellatrix," Voldemort said, as the two bowed. Voldemort then turned to Harry. "Funnily enough, I don't care about you at this moment. I have much more important matters to deal with. Once he comes, then I will deal with you. Until then..."

Harry felt himself be pushed up against the wall, ropes binding him to it. He wanted desperately to break free, but the ropes held tight. His movements were restricted. Voldemort was pleased.

"Now then, shall I let him know how to get here? Then again, he already senses a very strong being here. I'll just give him even more motivation to come down here," said Voldemort. Harry felt a large pressure befall them. His scar, which was already stinging, seared with pain. It was like the graveyard all over again. The pain was too severe. He couldn't think. He didn't even realize he was screaming.

"Harry!" Harry's eyes whipped open. 'No. No! They need to leave!'

"Get out of here! He'll kill you! You need to get out of here now!" Harry screamed at his two best friends. That was when they realized who was in front of them. Ron protectively held onto Hermione. They were both completely white with fear.

Suddenly, five people ran into the common room. Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Lupin, and Sirius held there wand out straight at Voldemort and the two Death Eaters in the room. Harry was happy they were there for only a moment. Then his mouth went dry.

More Death Eaters swarmed into the room. They were now outnumbered. Voldmort smirked and said, "Ah, good, you came. Kill them."

The whole room went into chaos. Spells were flying every which way, some coming dangerously close to Harry. Voldemort was sitting in front of the fire, eyes closed. He seemed to be enjoying the fight behind him in comfort.

"Harry!" Hermione said, attempting to break the ropes binding him. They held on tight. "Diffindo! Come on! _Diffindo_!"

The ropes refused to break. Hermione was suddenly pushed out of the way and held to the wall in the same manner. Voldemort looked upset that his relaxation had been interrupted. "Come, now, you don't want to die, do you?"

"Let her go!" Ron ran up, trying to attack Voldemort head on. Voldemort raised his arm, wand in hand. Harry's and Hermione's eyes widened in fear.

Sirius was suddenly in front of Ron, arms spread out protectively. A green light hit him square in the chest. Voldemort had not done a thing. Bellatrix was grinning from ear to ear, wand pointed at Sirius still. Sirius crumpled to the ground, lifeless eyes looking directly at Harry.

Harry felt his chest constrict and his heart stop beating. 'N-no. No!' "NO! SIRIUS!"

"That will be enough out of you. Silencio!" Harry tried yelling more, but nothing was coming out. He watched as Ron was also pinned to the wall in the same manner as Harry and Hermione already were.

An ominous feeling filled Harry. Glancing at Hermione, he knew she felt the exact same thing. Suddenly, something burst through the door of the common room. Stone flew through the air, dust obstructing the view of who or what it was.

Harry felt a weight come crashing down on him, but there was nothing pushing down on him. That was when he realized it was pure power pulsating through the air.

The dust slowly settled to the ground. The trio's eyes widened for what felt like the millionth time that day. The...animal in front of them was pure red with these strange white things all around it. The eyes really terrified Harry. They were completely white. Harry couldn't look away. The fear held his head in place and his eyes open.

It took a little longer before Harry finally realized what the white things were. They were bones. That led Harry to notice something even more disturbing. Swishing around behind the animal were six tails.

"Finally, the guest has arrived! And in the correct form, I see. I'm glad to see that little Naruto is very angry. It will make for a fun fight," Voldemort said, as he raised his wand arm again. "I do believe we need to move to a more open area, though. It's just too crowded in a place like this."

A few swishes of his wand and the whole scenery changed. Everyone who was in the Slytherin common room was now on the grounds of Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still tied up, but they had been re-tied to three large pieces of debris. They struggled again, but nothing worked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Sirius's body in the same position that he was in the castle. His eyes were still fixated on Harry. He looked away, feeling a mixture of rage and sadness invade his senses. He completely missed any speech Voldemort said and only came back when he had another realization.

He looked to Hermione, the same look he was feeling. She figured it out as well. She nodded and told Ron, who yelled, "WHAT?"

Voldemort's head whipped to Ron. "You should learn to keep your manners whilst in the middle of a duel. Your friend Naruto and I need silence in this duel."

Harry's fear was confirmed. Ron looked as though he couldn't believe it for a minute. He yelled, "There is no way that's Naruto! He's not a monster!"

There was a flicker of red and Ron cried out in pain. A large gash appeared on his chest, blood spilling out at an alarming rate. "RON!" "RON!"

His head slumped forward as he fell into unconsciousness. Harry started shaking. He had already lost his only family left, he couldn't lose his best friend too.

"Very good, Naruto. You follow orders we-" Voldemort was cut off as Naruto flew towards him, just barely missing his head. Voldemort was not expecting that at all. He looked enraged.

"If that's how you want to play... Crucio!" Voldemort yelled, as the spell flew directly into Naruto's chest. Naruto started shrieking and lashed out at Voldemort. Voldemort didn't dodge as well this time and got smacked in the leg. Blood spurted from the wound, causing Voldemort to yell out in pain.

Naruto almost seemed to be smirking. Inside him, however, another battle was raging on.

* * *

"...Why? Why were they killed? How could this happen? How could I let this happen? Why couldn't I save them? Why?"

Naruto was on his knees in water. His head was pounding, though he didn't know from what. His chest hurt too. He knew exactly what that was from. The pain of seeing one of his friends and the one he loved killed in front of him was too much to bear.

"NAZE?" "**Because you're too weak**," A voice rang out in front of him. Naruto's eyes snapped open. He looked up and recognized where he was. The giant cage holding the Kyuubi back was in front of him.

Naruto shook his head, saying, "I am. I am too weak. I'm pathetic. I shouldn't be alive!"

The demon let out a load of chakra, which burst out of Naruto's body on the outside. It incinerated the ground around the six tails form of Kyuubi. "**You should be alive! You are the only thing keeping me alive, and no matter how much I wish I could not admit it, I need you, so don't kill yourself! You should be more worried about killing the people that caused them to die, shouldn't you?**"

Naruto started breathing harder. "NO! Revenge never works! It didn't work for Sasuke!"

Saying his name constricted his chest even more. Three people were dead because of him. Three people he could have protected. Three people that needed to have their killers be killed. Naruto felt rage enter his body, clearing his constricted chest altogether. "**Yes, Naruto, YES!"**

"...Naruto..."

A soft, light voice carried out from inside Naruto's head. The rage dissipated. He knew that voice. He would always know that voice. "S-Sakura?"

"Please, don't do this. Stay strong. Fight with your own strength. Don't avenge our deaths. Help Harry and the others with your own amazing strength. Most importantly, live on..."

The voice faded away. Naruto fought back tears. "Sakura. I promise."

* * *

The animal that was Naruto suddenly let out something strange. It incinerated the ground all around it. It also incinerated Sirius's body. Harry looked away, feeling tears finally burst forth from his eyes.

A familiar figure suddenly appeared behind them. Harry felt his presence and willed the tears away. Dumbledore went directly over to Ron, ignoring the fact that Voldemort was seething not too far away.

A few small words under Dumbledore's breath and the wound began to heal itself, the blood going back into it as well. Color slowly went back into Ron's face, which had gone a pasty white.

"Dumbledore. How I've been longing for the confrontation," Voldemort said, forgetting all about Naruto behind him, who was crouched over in pain. He had still not left the six tails form.

Dumbledore, however, did notice him. He frowned. "Tom, why did you have to go after poor Naruto? Hasn't he endured enough sorrow for the day?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "He has something I desire, it's as simple as that."

Dumbledore closed his eyes. "You used to be such a model student, Tom. You were a great wizard."

"I am the greatest wizard alive! Everyone fears my power!" Voldemort exclaimed, face losing it's composure for only a moment. He went right back to the nonchalance attitude. "I will kill you, Albus Dumbledore."

Dumbledore lightly smiled. "You are not the greatest wizard alive. If you really were, you wouldn't have everyone fear you. Everyone would respect you."

"It doesn't matter! I am the strongest and will prove it when I kill you!" The fight began, spells clashing and flying in every direction. The fight was on a whole new level.

Voldemort pointed his wand down and brought up and large glob of earth. He hardened it into many sharp points and made it fly towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore got water from the lake and splashed it on the earth, turning it to mud.

Harry's attention was pulled away from the two battling wizards and focused on Naruto, who suddenly started howling. The red thing around him slowly dissipated. It looked incredibly painful, seeing how burnt his skin was after it was completely gone. Harry wanted to break out of the ropes to pull Naruto away, but they just wouldn't come loose.

Naruto collapsed to the ground, a spell flying right where his head was a moment before. Harry was extremely surprised to see Naruto's eyes open a bit. It looked like he was trying to pull himself into a sitting position, but he had no strength left, not to mention the burns on his body were screaming in pain.

Naruto decided to use a different route, one he had used before. He put his chin on the ground and started to pull himself away from the fight. He was wincing at every movement. He screamed out in pain when Voldemort tripped over him.

He felt himself start to loose consciousness, but willed himself to stay awake. The sleep was very inviting at the moment, though, because of the pain. Then again, the pain had begun to numb his body. The deep black sleep overtook him without his permission.

Dumbledore used magic to float Naruto over to Harry and the others. Voldemort stood, looking even fouler than before. He was about to start the fight again when hundreds of ministry employees flooded onto the grounds. Fudge was at the front of them. He took one look at Voldemort and nearly passed out.

Voldemort gave one last glare to Dumbledore before he apparated away. Harry could just hear Hermione asking Dumbledore how Voldemort was able to apparate inside Hogwarts grounds.

Harry felt the ropes come loose. He shakily stood up and hurried over to Ron. Hermione was out of her ropes as well and was already with Ron.

He was still pale, but a lot of color had gone back into his face. He just needed rest now. There wasn't anything Harry or Hermione could do except be there for him.

Hermione was hanging onto his hand, not caring anymore. Harry heard her whispering to Ron and decided to leave them alone. He went over to Dumbledore, who was next to Naruto. Harry had to blink a few times, because the majority of the burns that were on Naruto's skin had disappeared.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Dumbledore asked, concern laced in his voice. Naruto nodded and sat up slowly, wincing a few times. More of the burns were disappearing in front of Harry's eyes. He couldn't believe they were just leaving like that. It was very unnatural.

"Are they..." Harry didn't understand this question at all. When Dumbledore nodded, Naruto looked away. The shaking of his body appeared to be sobs, which made Harry even more confused. Dumbledore looked sadly at Harry, which is what made Harry remember about Sirius.

"Harry, go up to my office. The password is Licorice Wands." Dumbledore said. Harry was tempted to ignore him, but he nodded and started on his way. Today seemed to be the worst day in Harry's life.

* * *

I updated! Only one more chapter left. It'll be a very long chapter, most likely. I went on vacation for a week with no computer access. It consisted of working on a lady's house in Maryland for three days then going to a beach in New Jersey for three days. Man was it hot! With the severe lacking of electricity in the lady's house, there was no air conditioning. It was pretty much always around 100 degrees. Bleck. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Harry was waiting in Dumbledore's office patiently. Okay, so not all that patiently. He wanted to just break everything in that room. He shouldn't have ever wanted Voldemort to come to Hogwarts. They got rid of Umbridge, so there wasn't any reason for Harry to want Voldemort to come.

Then, he didn't tell anyone about Shikamaru. He tried to justify it by saying he didn't want to put Sakura and Naruto under anymore stress, but that was a lie. Harry slightly hoped Shikamaru would lead Voldemort right into the school. He wanted to have that confrontation. He wanted to end it, but he wasn't even strong enough to do that.

"Dammit!" Harry picked up an instrument from Dumbledore's desk and threw it as hard as he could towards the closest wall. It shattered into many smaller pieces. "Oh, thank you, I had way too many of those anyway. Feel free to get rid of more, if you wish."

Harry turned around and saw Dumbledore smiling. Harry was sickened that he could still smile after everything that had happened. Dumbledore walked over to his chair and sat down. With the flick of his wand, another chair zoomed in front of his desk. Dumbledore said, "Please, sit. We need to have a talk."

Harry definitely did not sit down. He refused to listen to anything Dumbledore had to say. After nearly ignoring him for the vast majority of the year, he didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Dumbledore sighed and said, "Harry, I understand you are upset and confused. If you want me to explain some things, you really do need to take a seat."

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say? First, you put guards to protect me, though that didn't stay hidden for long! Then you completely disappeared, not saying anything to anybody! You have been pretty much ignoring me all year! Sirius is dead because...because of me." Harry said, his voice faltering at the end. He just wanted to crawl up in a little ball and cry.

"Harry," He started. Harry felt uncontrollable rage invade his body. "I was ignoring you because I was under the impression that distancing myself from you would stop Voldemort from latching onto you as much. The guards were there to protect you in case that didn't work, which it didn't. Though, now there's only one to protect you."

Harry's eyes widened. "Shikamaru and Sakura...didn't make it?"

Dumbledore shook his head. Guilt poured onto Harry like water. Just two more deaths because of him. Instead of feeling sad, anger was shown. He grabbed a silver instrument that had been whirring continuously and chucked it at Dumbledore. He merely dodged his head, making it look easy. Before Harry knew it, he was screaming.

"HOW COULD YOU SIT IDLY BY JUST LETTING ALL OF THIS HAPPEN? HOW COULD YOU LET EVERYONE JUST DIE LIKE THEY DID? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE SELFISH AND NOT HELP ME WHEN I NEEDED IT THE MOST? WHY!" Dumbledore said nothing as Harry grabbed and broke more of his instruments. He was no longer smiling, but he understood. He knew he had been acting selfishly. He knew he should have at least tried to help more. Leaving it in the hands of three teenagers to protect him was not going to work.

"Harry, I was acting selfish. I know I was. For a while, I was afraid that Voldemort was potentially possessing you. I didn't want to have to see his eyes in yours." said Dumbledore softly. Harry still didn't calm down.

After throwing yet another instrument, he yelled, "NARUTO IS ALONE BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TRY TO HELP US! HE HAS TO GO BACK HOME AND LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THREE OF HIS FRIENDS ARE DEAD AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! HE SHOULDN'T DESERVE THIS! IF ONLY I HAD told him sooner..."

Harry fell into the chair, the correct emotions finally taking over. He cried, not trying to stop the tears from coming at all. "It's all my fault! I can't believe I could let them die! Sirius... Sirius just wanted to protect Ron. He just wanted to protect all of us no matter what. He shouldn't have died!"

Dumbledore smiled. "It was as much your fault as it was mine. If not more my fault. Don't blame yourself, Harry. Don't take on that burden. You are not yet wise enough nor old enough to do that. Which brings me to one last thing I need to discuss with you, the prophecy."

Harry wiped his eyes and looked at Dumbledore. He looked back, the twinkle just barely visible. Maybe the terribleness of the day got to him too. Dumbledore stood up and went over to a basin. Harry recognized it as the Pensieve he had looked into last year. Dumbledore picked it up and brought it over to his desk.

Dumbledore then brought his wand to his temple and pulled a silvery substance that looked like a lot of fine strings out of his head. He put it into the basin and swirled it around.

A figure rose from the Pensieve, draped in shawls, eyes magnified behind thick glasses. Sibyll Trelawney began talking in harsh, hoarse tones that Harry had only heard her use one before.

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and_ _either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

Professor Trelawney sank back into the Pensieve and disappeared. No one spoke. The portraits and Fawkes didn't even make a noise. Dumbledore broke the silence by saying, "This is what Voldemort wanted in the Department of Mysteries. I do believe you have been having dreams about that all year."

Harry blinked a few times. Then, he realized that the door was to the Department of Mysteries. It made sense. Which meant, Mr. Weasley was protecting the prophecy. Harry got a confused look "So...what does it exactly mean?"

"It means that the only person with the power to finally destroy Voldemort would be born at the end of July," Dumbledore said, looking older than he had ever looked. Harry looked Dumbledore square in the eyes, "It means...me?"

"Not exactly. There was one other person born at the end of July. Neville Longbottom," he said.

"So, it might not be me?"

"There is no doubt that it is you, Harry," Dumbledore said slowly. Harry got even more confused and asked, "But, you just said Neville was born at the end of July too."

"Yes, but Voldemort chose you. He marked you as his equal. He gave you the scar that has been a blessing and a curse."

"Well, what if he chose wrong? What if he should've chose Neville?"

"Voldemort chose the boy that was most likely to be a danger to him. Also, notice he chose the half-blood like himself, not the pureblood like you would have expected. He saw himself in you which is why he attacked you that night," Dumbledore said, seeming to have lost any happiness his voice once possessed.

Harry was shattered between many different emotions. He decided to ask one last question, "So, at the end of the prophecy, it said something about..._"neither can live...while the other survives". _Does that mean...?"

"Yes, it means on of you will have to kill the other in the end."

They sat in silence. Harry wanted nothing more than to curl up in a little ball and sleep. But, of course, that wasn't going to happen. The door opened and Naruto walked in. Harry only glanced at him while Dumbledore drew up another chair. Harry didn't want to look at him, no matter what.

"How are you doing, Naruto? I see Madam Pomfrey healed you up," Dumbledore said, regaining the cheerful nature. Harry glanced over again and saw that all the burns were gone.

Naruto didn't saw anything. Harry stood up abruptly and said, "I'll go now. I...want to check on Ron and Hermione."

He hurried towards the door and went out. He let out a long breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Then, he heard uncontrollable sobbing. He looked at the door and decided to stay and listen. He didn't know why he wanted to so much, but he did.

Inside Dumbledore's office, Naruto had fallen to the floor, unable to hold back his emotions any longer. Dumbledore lost his cheerfulness within seconds. He understood how hard it must've been for him only to an extent. He had not lost three of his friends in one year, one being his girlfriend.

Naruto couldn't stop his sobbing no matter how hard he tried. Soon, the tears stopped, but he was still crying. He felt dizzy and exhausted. He just wanted it all to end.

"Naruto, I know what you have experienced must be terrible. I will understand if you want to go back to Konoha early. I can have a portkey set up for later today, if you would like," said Dumbledore. Naruto didn't answer. He had yet to move from the position he fell to. After a few more minutes, he finally got up and sat in the chair again.

"I'll stay for the rest of the year."

Dumbledore was surprised, but he smiled understandingly. "Naruto, You don't have to stay and finish. I know they would probably want you to, but you don't need to. I'll let you go. You need to get home."

Naruto merely nodded. He didn't want to have to go back and explain everything to Tsunade, but he had to. It was better to get it all done now, instead of later.

Ten more minutes passed and a house elf came in. Harry had left after they stopped talking. The house elf had a tray of food that it gave to Naruto. Naruto made no movement to eat any of the food. "Until you eat something, you will not be able to leave this room."

A few more minutes passed before Naruto finally picked up a piece of toast and ate it. He felt sick to his stomach afterwards and asked Dumbledore if he could leave.

"Come back at six o'clock tonight. The portkey will be ready. You already know the password." Naruto nodded and left the office.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. A portrait above him said, "The kids these days have it way too hard. Especially those foreigners."

* * *

Harry was sitting in the Hospital Wing next to Ron's bed. He was still pale, but it had gotten much better since the last time he had seen him. The Hospital Wing was very busy. It seemed like the fight had injured a lot of people. Though, Slytherin students were nowhere to be seen...

"H-Harry? H-Hermione?" Harry whipped his head back to Ron's bed and saw him stirring. His chest loosened slightly. Ron was alright. Hermione started crying and hugged Ron, who was still half asleep. Harry just smiled at him.

"What happened?" he asked, Hermione pulling back from her hug to let him breathe. Harry looked away. He couldn't bear talking about it at this point. Hermione looked at Harry before looking back at Ron. "We'll tell you later, alright?"

What happened next was unexpected. Harry looked at the door to the Hospital Wing and saw Naruto walk in. Harry looked away immediately. Naruto walked right over to them. He looked at Ron and asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah. Where are Sakura and Shikamaru? I haven't seen them around," Ron asked, oblivious to how much Naruto's face fell. Hermione noticed and whispered into Ron's ear. His eyes widened. "O-oh. Sorry, mate."

Naruto nodded, feeling his chest constrict even more. He looked at Harry, who was looking anywhere else but Naruto. Naruto sighed and said,"Harry, I don't blame you for any of it. I was out of line earlier. I was just..."

Naruto straightened out and said, "I have to go."

Naruto walked out of the Hospital Wing, stopping to look back at the three of them. Hermione was smiling weakly at Ron, who looked stunned. Harry was looking at Naruto, though. Harry inclined his head the slightest bit. Naruto did the same. They understood each other.

Naruto wanted desperately to go find where they put Sakura and Shikamaru's body's, but he was dreading the moment he saw them. He'd have to bring them back with him as proof of their death and to bury them. Maybe, just maybe, all of this was a dream and he would wake up to see it never happened...

"Naruto?" Naruto looked up and saw Ginny. She was looking at him with concern. He didn't realize why until she wiped a tear away. Naruto started rubbing away the tears he hadn't even noticed falling. Softly, he said, "Sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry about? Your best friends are gone. You shouldn't be ashamed about mourning them," she said, placing a comforting hand on his back. He let out a shaky breath.

"Yeah."

A few more moments of silence ensued until a rather repulsive voice showed up behind them, saying, "Isn't this cute? Weasley can't find any other guys to take her, so she goes after the foreigners? How pathetic. I heard two of those weaklings died earlier. Good riddance."

Before Malfoy knew what was going on, a knife was at his throat and someone was behind him. Crabbe and Goyle didn't even see him coming.

"Naruto! Don't do it!" Ginny yelled, desperation in her voice. She knew this feeling. She had felt it when her father was killed. Every time anyone put down their family, she would ignore it. The second they brought her father into it, she wanted to rip their faces off. She knew it wouldn't end well if she did, though. She couldn't let Naruto do it.

Naruto was shaking, the blade of the knife cutting a shallow gash into Malfoy's neck. Naruto nearly let his hand slip, to make it look like an accident, but he pulled away. He couldn't have another death on his conscience.

Ginny closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She hated Malfoy with every particle of her body, but she wouldn't kill him. She especially wouldn't let Naruto kill him.

Naruto walked towards Ginny, gave her a apologetic look, and then walked past her.

Malfoy was touching his throat where a small scratch laid. He brought his hand down and saw a dot of blood on his finger. A scream came from his mouth before he ran away, Crabbe and Goyle following loyally.

Ginny felt sadness invade her senses for a moment before she continued on her way to the Hospital Wing. Seeing Harry might make the horrible feeling of sadness dissipate.

* * *

It was five. Dinner had just begun, the Great Hall quieter than usual. Everyone was still shaken about earlier. The Slytherin common room had been repaired soon after the fight stopped. There hadn't been any student casualties, but quite a few injuries, mostly among Gryffindors. The only house unscathed was Slytherin, believe it or not.

Dumbledore was seating, his usual cheerful demeanor radiating off of him as he ate. None of the teachers looked particularly happy at what had taken place. They also didn't look to happy that Dumbledore could be so happy and calm at a time like this.

Harry and Hermione were sitting, playing with their food. Neither of them really felt like eating, but they promised Ron they would. Taking an occasional bite was close enough.

Ginny had informed them of what Naruto did, or almost did. They weren't too surprised, but they were glad he didn't. They knew he could if he really, truly wanted to kill Malfoy, he would've.

"It just makes me feel so bad for him. It's wrong what he's forced to do. What they were all forced to do. It just doesn't seem right," Hermione said, jabbing her fork into a piece of chicken. Harry numbly nodded. He didn't want to think about them. It only caused guilt to well up inside him like a disease.

"Did you see Naruto's face when he came in to see us? It was emotionless. He was holding all of his emotions back. That must've been awful. Loosing so much in less than a year. And being so far away from home doesn't help," she rambled on. Harry cleared his mind, forgetting about everything that had happened that day.

"Naruto!"

Harry opened his eyes and saw Naruto standing on the other side of the table. He sat down and looked at them, eyes without emotion. He opened his mouth and said, "I'm leaving in an hour to go back home. I won't be able to finish my guarding job. Will you be alright, Harry?"

Harry looked at Naruto, a stunned expression taking over his face. He broke out of his daze to say, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Will you be alright?"

That question was lost to Naruto as he stood up to leave. He turned to them only to say, "I'll be in the common room packing."

He walked away quickly, pushing through many people. Harry and Hermione gaped at his back, disbelief holding their faces in place. Only when Ginny and Neville came by did they come out of their stupor.

"Hey, guys, you look like you saw Professor Snape in his underwear," Ginny laughed. Neville started laughing afterwards. Hermione smiled weakly while Harry only looked back at his food. His appetite was gone.

Harry abruptly stood up and muttered something about the bathroom. He took off at a jog. He didn't know why, but he needed to catch up with Naruto.

He was relieved that none of them followed him. By the time he caught up with Naruto, he was nearly at the common room. "Naruto, wait! I need to say something!"

Naruto stopped and turned around. Harry walked over to him, breathing heavily from the number of stairs he ran up. After a moment, Harry looked directly into Naruto's eyes and spilled everything he had been holding back.

"I should have told you earlier about...about what was happening to Shikamaru." Naruto winced. "It was wrong of me to not tell you. I knew we couldn't handle it on our own, but I didn't want to stress you anymore. First, everything with Sakura, then the fact that your village was being attacked while you stayed here to guard me."

"It's my fault they're gone. I feel awful. Ron does too. We both want you to know that we are more than sorry for what we have done. I want you to do whatever to me you feel you need to do to avenge them. It doesn't matter what it is, even if you have to kill me," Harry finished, his breath hitching as he said that.

Naruto held his gaze to Harry's, who was starting to get a bit uncomfortable with the staring. What happened next was the last thing Harry would have expected. Harry felt Naruto wrap his arms around him in a hug. Harry had to blink a few times to figure out it was really happening.

Awkwardly, Harry hugged back. "You know I don't blame you or Ron, right? I should've noticed something was off sooner. But, it's done now. Now, I can go back home. I'll write to you."

Harry felt relief cascade over his body like a waterfall. Soon, they let go and went to the common room. Naruto let Harry into his room to help him pack. Naruto was glad someone could help him pack up their things.

Forty-five minutes later, everything was packed into a scroll. Naruto kept all four wands in his pocket, not entirely sure why. He was forever grateful that Harry was helping him, though. He never could have done it without him.

They walked all the way to Dumbledore's office. Harry smiled and said, "I'm gonna miss my bodyguards, even though by the end, they weren't really protecting me. They had become great friends."

Naruto smiled back, though Harry could see it was forced. Naruto retaliated by saying, "Well, you can take care of yourself. You didn't really need us, did you?"

Some silence ensued before Naruto said, "I gotta go."

Harry nodded and watched as Naruto gave the password and went up the spiral staircase. Harry smiled before walking off to the Hospital Wing where Ron was no doubt groaning about his hunger.

Naruto knocked on the door and entered when a light, "Come in" was issued. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, a scroll of parchment in front of him.

"Ahh, just on time." He gestured to the parchment and said, "This is your portkey. It includes the payment and all the mission details. Tsunade will be pleased with the extra amount I'm giving her. Also, their bodies are sealed inside, including Sasuke's."

Naruto nearly gagged. He didn't want to know how Dumbledore got his hands on Sasuke's body, which would still be rotting at this point. Naruto took a particularly deep breath in, willing himself not to show emotion.

"I will activate the portkey. It won't be a portkey when you reach your destination," explained Dumbledore. Naruto nodded and watched as Dumbledore put his wand on the parchment, muttered something, and the parchment glowed a light blue for a moment.

Naruto walked forward and bowed to Dumbledore before grabbing hold of the portkey. For a moment, it looked like a tear trailed down Dumbledore's face, but Naruto fell into an uncontrollable spinning.

He shut his eyes, willing the nausea to subside. He suddenly felt ground beneath him. Disheveled, he stood up and looked around. He was in the Hokage's office, but it was strangely silent. He looked behind the Hokage desk and wasn't surprised to see Tsunade fast asleep, drool spilling out of her mouth.

"Baa-chan!" She jumped up at the noise, wiping the drool off her face. She looked up and a wide smile graced her face.

"Naruto! You're back!" She then stood to give Naruto a big hug. He gave her a halfhearted hug. That gave Tsunade a few questions, but she withheld.

After the brief hug, she sat back down and Naruto put the scroll of parchment on her desk. He then explained, "The payment is in there along with a bit of extra money. There is also a detailed mission statement. And..."

She glanced up at Naruto when the hesitation occurred. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Naruto? What happened?"

He swallowed painfully, as his mouth had gone dry. He then cleared his throat to say, "They're...they...Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru...they're gone."

Tsunade got a confused look on her face. Then, she asked, "What do you mean 'gone'? Did they not want to come back?"

He shook his head wildly, pleading her to understand. When she still didn't, he took a deep breath and said, "They're dead."

Shock overtook her features. Her head fell forward. Naruto pushed his emotions further back and said, voice shaking, "Their bodies are sealed inside the scroll."

Tsunade looked up and gave Naruto another confused look, saying, "If they really are dead, then what are they doing in the hall right now?"

Naruto's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I saw them die. We buried...They can't be alive."

The door opened and Naruto heard Sasuke say, "Idiot."

Naruto refused to turn around, knowing it was all some sick joke. Dumbledore probably told Tsunade about all of this earlier. She was now making a sick joke.

"Naruto, you really are troublesome."

His breath hitched as he heard Shikamaru talk. There was absolutely no possible way for them to be talking to him right now.

"Tsunade-sama, this isn't funny. Please stop this. Just open the parchment and unseal the bodies, please," Naruto pleaded, knowing that saying Tsunade-sama would get her to cut it out. Tsunade only shook her head no.

"Naruto, please, you have to believe us. We can all explain everything if you just let us." Naruto felt tears spring to his eyes as he felt Sakura drape her arms around him in a hug. He pushed her arms away only to feel them hang on tighter. Sakura whispered into his ear, "Naruto, please believe us! We can explain everything!"

After a minute more, he finally turned around. All three of them were standing there like nothing had ever happened. Sasuke was standing emotionless. Shikamaru was half smirking. Sakura was smiling.

Naruto stood there for a minute, taking their appearances in. Then, he ran forward and enveloped all three into a hug. They were shocked, but they understood.

A few minutes later, they were all sitting in chairs in front of Tsunade's desk. Tsunade cleared her throat and began the discussion by saying, "Naruto, I'm sure this is all very hard to comprehend. First off, in this...dimension, you only left around four weeks ago. A day after you left, a group called Koyama came and attacked us. They were originally the Yutero clan, a clan that sought violence many years ago."

"That day, something strange happened..."

_Tsunade looked over to the man she had killed. "He must have been sent to kill their last big obstacle. Too bad they put all of their trust in this man. He has way to much of an ego."_

_"Glad you noticed. Too bad he wasn't the one they sent." All three of them whipped around to see another man. He was dressed the same as the other man, but he wore a large necklace. It was completely green, with gems glistening on it. Tsunade narrowed her eyes yet again._

_"I'm the strongest man in the Koyama group!" Tsunade had questions rung through her head. "Why are you calling yourselves the Koyama if you are wearing the symbol of the Yutero clan?"_

_His eyes narrowed. "How do you know of the Yutero clan?" Tsunade laughed. "My grandfather was the one who suggested peace with you people. When you refused, my grandfather and the First Kazekage decided to wipe you off the face of the earth."_

_"You know nothing of what we had to put up with! For years, my ancestors were attacked by leaf shinobi and sand shinobi! It didn't matter if it was a child or a full grown adult! YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Tsunade was taken aback. That was not what it said in the history archives._

_"That's not true. Your people started attacking us! We never attacked you!" He laughed sickeningly. "Yeah, that's what they wanted you to believe."_

_Without warning, he disappeared and started doing hand signs. Out of nowhere, a giant wave slammed on top of them. Tsunade was wipped around until she felt her head come in contact with the building. Her vision went fuzzy and dots started dancing in front of her. Her head burst into pain. As the water left, Kakashi and Yamato ran over to help her up. They had dodged the wave by using chakra to hold their feet to the building._

_"Hokage-sama, are you alright?" Tsunade gripped her throbbing head and nodded slowly, feeling her head send out another spark of pain. She looked up to see the Yutero shinobi being attacked by another shinobi. Tsunade squinted for a moment before she realized who it was. Her eyes widened._

_"How could... but..." Kakashi and Yamato followed her gaze. Their reactions were identical. There was no way that that person was there. They couldn't be there. There was no possible way for them to be there. "It can't really be... Sasuke?"_

_There was no mistaking it. Sharingan blazing, Sasuke was attacking the supposed strongest man in the Koyama group. However, Sasuke had already sliced the mans arm off. He screamed in pain and tried to escape. Sasuke saw to it that he didn't._

_The man's screams ceased and Sasuke fell to his knees. Tsunade, Yamato, and Kakashi ran over to him. Tsunade bombarded him with questions the second she got over to him._

_"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in Hogwarts! What the hell are you doing here?" she screamed. Sasuke looked up at her, then down at his hands. He looked back up to her and said, "I don't know."_

Naruto didn't understand what was going on. Sasuke was back at Konoha a day after they left? It made no sense! He voiced his confusion, which Shikamaru answered.

"Naruto, do you remember us talking about the time differences? A day in Konoha could be a month in Hogwarts, approximately," he said. Sasuke then said, "Naruto, the last thing I remember before I was back here was getting ready to kill Evelyn. Someone then must've killed me. By what they told me, they sliced my head off."

Naruto still didn't get it. It just didn't seem at all possible. "But, then, when did they get here? To me, it just happened this morning."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. He then said, "That's really strange. I got here a week ago and Sakura came a day later."

Confusion was all that was in their minds at that point. They all jumped when there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Kakashi. He looked at everyone for a minute before saying, "Yo!"

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Kakashi smiled and replied, "I heard that you just got back. I felt like saying hi to my students after not seeing one of them for four whole weeks."

Naruto smirked, knowing that whole sentence was laced with sarcasm. He didn't mind, though. It had been a long time to him. Tsunade cleared her throat, bringing Naruto's attention back to her.

"Since I have a mission report, I won't need to talk to you guys anymore. Go get rested up, Naruto. You've earned it," said Tsunade with a smile. He nodded and they left.

They decided to go get some ramen, since Naruto hadn't had any in a very long time. When they got to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Naruto said, rummaging through his pocket and pulling out the wands. The other three all widened their eyes before smiling. Naruto handed them out and asked, "So, do you think magic still works here?"

"There's only one way to find out," Sakura said, pointing her wand at the chopsticks. "_Accio_!"

The chopsticks wobbled slightly before settling down. The shinobi were disappointed, but knew it was for the best. The magic was for the Wizarding world to use, not the Shinobi world.

Naruto looked down at his wand and saw that the words that were forming so long ago had come together. It said, _"Murder those who killed them."_

Naruto watched as the words faded away slowly. He shook his head before smelling the ramen that had been placed in front of him.

Happily, the shinobi ate their ramen, glad to be alive and together again.

* * *

Out of the shadows, Zetsu walked in front of a ornate chair. A man was sitting in the chair, their body covered by darkness. Zetsu bowed before him. The man in the chair nodded and asked, "What happened with Takeru?"

"Naruto-kun killed him when he let the Kyuubi take over, Leader-sama," White Zetsu said. The man in the chair nodded again and said, "Good, good. I was hoping it would come to that. Takeru had served his purpose. And Voldemort? Did he make what Takeru asked him to make?"

Zetsu nodded. The man in chair started to laugh. "Good. It seems the plan can finally begin."

* * *

...There it is. The final chapter of Unknown Guardians. Wow. That was a long story. My first multi-chapter story to be finished. And I gave you a long last chapter too. Wow, it's strange that it's over. If you have any last minute questions, please, don't be afraid to ask me.

I am writing another Harry Potter/Naruto crossover that is in no way related to this story. I know, it sounds like there should be some sort of sequel to this, but right now, I need to take a break from this story. One day, I might make a sequel, but for now, this is it.

Thank you all for being such avid readers and giving me all the reviews. I will be making further adjusments to the beginning of the story, since I have realized Naruto was slightly too immature. I was young and stupid back then, not to mention, I had just finished the first part of Naruto and had never read the manga.

Anyway, thank you everyone! Review one more time? Please?


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